The 45th Hunger Games
by Haley's Comet
Summary: Enter your tributes and see how they long the survive the 45th Hunger Games... But first they have to go through the reaping, the interviews, and the training. Closed for submissions.
1. Welcome

***The 45th Hunger Games***

~0o0**~  
**

The 45th Hunger Games is now officially closed for submissions. If you still wish to earn sponsorship points, you can still do so by entering game arenas and game maker tricks.

~0o0o0o~

I tried to make this story as organized as possible. I hope you all find everything very easy to navigate.

~0o0~

You have all entered your characters into these Games, so now you need to see their story from start to finish. Before the Games, I'll write for each individual character as they get reaped, meet their escorts and stylists, train as a group, train in front of the game makers, receive their training scores, and go to interviews. And then… the 45th annual Hunger Games begin. Some of you will die tragically in the first night; one of you lucky tributes will survive to the very end. But no one will give up without a fight.

~0o0o0o~

So, on that note... May the odds be _ever_ in your favor!

~0o0~

***Haley's Comet***


	2. Point Balance

I decided to keep a page that has all the point balances on it. Your point balance can change at any time if you add more tributes, mentors, stylists, escorts, arenas, or game maker tricks. This page will always be changing, so check back frequently when the games begin to see how many points you can spend on sponsoring tributes. Once the actual game begins, you can still send in game maker tricks, but that's it.

* * *

(Keep in mind that it's always a good idea to count up your own points in case I made a mistake.)

**Points-**

**Haley's Comet: **130 Points

**XxXHappyGirlXxX:** 275 Points

**Penelope Wendy Bing:** 95 Points

**Comet Crossover:** 65 Points

**CloudyNK:** 350 Points (Wow!)

**Kc256: **35 Points

**XALLOWspuffyBuFf:** 5 Ponits

**Jaimelah:** 25 Points

**ama118623:** 95 Ponits

**Catherine Daughter of Apollo: **5 Points**  
**

**Sarah: **5 Points**  
**

**Hannah:** 5 Points

**ama118623:** 85 Points

**cachivache:** 45 Points

**Stratagem: **50 Points

**k8e429:** 5 Points

**redgummybear93:** 50 Points

CloudyNK takes the lead!

* * *

**Things You Can Buy:**

Empty Water Jug: 5 Points

Empty Backpack: 5 Points

Iodine: 5 Points

Wire: 5 Points

Piece of District Bread: 5 Points

Day Supply of Water: 10 Points

Day Supply of Food: 10 Points

Matches: 15 Points

Night Vision Goggles: 15 Points

2 Day's supply of Water: 20 Points

2 Day's Supply of food: 20 Points

Heat Reflective Sleeping Bag: 35 Points

First-Aid Kit: 50 Points

Weapon of any Kind: 100 Points

**How to Get Points:**

Enter One Tribute: 5 Points

Enter Two Tributes: 15 Points

Enter One Stylist Team: 20 Points

Enter One Escort: 20 Points

Enter One Mentor: 25 Points

Enter One Stylist, One Escort, and One Mentor: 80 Points

Enter a Game Arena: 10 Points

Enter a Game Maker Trick: 20 points

* * *

**Keep in mind that you can sponsor any character you wish, not just your own original characters.**


	3. Character Guide

I figured that since we have most of the positions filled, I would post the character guide. I cleaned up some of the entries, but if you catch any spelling errors... keep in mind that all of these descriptions come to about 16,000 words. That's like, 40 pages of proof reading.

Alright, one thing to keep in mind is that not all of the district specialty information is accurate. I did quite a bit of research, and really... Who the hell cares? Not matter what, nobody will know for sure what 5, 6, and 9 are. I did the best I could, but fortunately... It's not really going to make that big of an impact on the game. Don't worry about it.

**Character Guide:**

**District One: (Luxury Items)**

Tributes: 

**~Female-**Thalia Hanson **(Creator: XxXHappyGirlXxX)**

Age: 16

Personality: She is full of herself. She is beautiful and she knows it. She has been training her whole life for the games. She is very arrogant and thinks she is much more superior to everyone else.

Appearance: She has long blonde hair and blue eyes that seem to sparkle in the sunlight.

Family/Friends:

Mom- Died when Thalia was only a baby.

Dad- Is a baker and doesn't make that much money. He uses whatever extra money he has to spoil Tianna.

History: Mom died when she was a baby so her dad had to raise her all by himself, with the help of their neighbor, Suzie Johnson.

District Token: Her mother's wedding ring.

Interview Angle: Sexy

Strengths: She is strong, fast, and manipulative. She can also camouflage herself very well.

Weaknesses: She has a problem making friends and cannot hunt to save her life.

Weapon of Choice: A small knife.

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: She can camouflage very good.

**~Male-** Johnathon Daae** (Creator: ama116823)**

Age: 17

Personality: He is a huge fan of the hunger games and thinks it would be a huge honor to be reaped. He is a jerk to his family and he actually put his sibling's names in for the tesserae instead of his name. He is desperate for blood and looks forward to watching one of his siblings or another person from his district get killed. He is just bloodthirsty (the type wear he would traumatize and torture his victims to death).

Appearance: 6'3", long shaggy natural blond hair that he tries to color black with permanent marker yet it usually ends up blotchy. He has a black eye from getting in a fight the night before with his dad about entering his siblings for the tesserae. He has scars all over his arms making him looking even more dangerous. He has dark brown eyes that almost look black. He is wearing black tight pants, a black shirt, and used to be white tennis shoes before he took a black marker to them. Everyone, including his family, wants him gone so no one volunteers for him even though a boy from the training center was supposed to.

Family/Friends: He has two parents who are just sick of having a blood thirsty son in the house. He has two little sisters, ages 15 and 12, who both have their names in 12 extra times (he thought it would help his family and be entertaining to watch). He has one little 10 year old brother who got burned terribly when Johnathon wanted to see what would happen if he set him on fire. All of his siblings have scars and such from him being curious. He has no friends, shockingly enough.

History: He is a bloodthirsty, fire loving, hunger game loving teen. He used to go to the training center but, got kick out when he set it on fire 5 years back. He is a monster in everyone's point of view. He learned how to use a sword and use a whip in deadly, painful ways.

District Token: A silver skull ring.

Interview Angle: A crazy hunger games fanatic who is thirsty for blood.

Strengths: He can set fires, her scares all, he can use a sword efficiently, he's good with a whip, and he knows how to tell if things are poisonous or not.

Weaknesses: He can't swim, he keeps to himself, and will probably take too long killing his prey.

Weapon of Choice: A pair of matches to burn down parts of the arena.

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: He plans on showing he is good with a sword then burning down the training center and all its supplies so no one else can use them.

**Escort: **Jennette 'Jen' Harold **(Creator: XxXHappyGirlXxX)**

Age: 22

Appearance: She is tall with strawberry blonde hair and bright green eyes.

Personality: Jen is a typical career; bubbly and happy-in front of a camera. She is also vain and finds people from 'lower' districts (such as 11 and 12) disgusting. She is good in front of a camera but a nasty, self-absorbed person off of it.

**Stylist Team: (Created By: ama118623)**

Head Stylist Name: Malec Maddle

District: 1

Appearance: Neon green skin and pink hair. Naturally green eyes.

Personality: He is silent except talking about clothes.

Team Members: Arthura(female), Trevora (female), and castle (male).

**Mentor: ** Adrianna Keels **(Creator: XxXHappyGirlXxX)**

Appearance: She has icy blue hair and purple eyes. She is tall and has is a little curvy, but she is still pretty skinny.

Personality: She is young and sometimes immature, but relates well with the tributes. She is bubbly, but has a deadly temper.

How did they win the games?: She was friends with everyone, and ended up stabbing them in their backs and killing them in their sleep.

* * *

**District Two: (Weaponry/Medicine/Providing Peacekeepers)**

Tributes:

**~Female- **Ashkia Anderdean **(Creator: ama118623)**

Age: 16

Personality: Mysterious, murderous if you are picking on her friends, funny if you get to know her, likes to mess with guys minds, people automatically trust her, people are just drawn towards her, and she always stands up for people she trusts.

Appearance: 5'9", brown curly hair to her to her waist, almond shaped deep blue eyes framed by thick lashes, a very white perfect smile, thick full lips, a beauty mark just to the right of her right eye, a very curvy body, long legs, very tan, overall drop dead gorgeous.

Family/Friends: Her whole family died in a house fire except for her older brother (20) who takes "care" of her. She has two guy friends and one traumatized friend named Adara. Adara's older sister volunteered for her last year and died in the final three. AAtami (one of her other friends) is 19 and is officially too old to be reaped which he brags about the whole way to the city hall. Apollo (her other friend) is 17 and can't wait to be too old.

History: She goes to the training center every day for 8 hours and trains with a bow and arrow, spears, 2 swords, a poisonous dart gun (which she wants in the arena), and she teaches classes with her daggers(which she also wants in the arena). She keeps her and her brother alive by teaching classes and by having her name in for reaping 63 times.

District Token: A golden bracelet that has her named engraved on the inside of her wrist and District 2 on the other side.

Interview Angle: A sexy killing machine is how she is portrayed but, she was going for plain sexy

Strengths: All of the weapons above, plus swimming, climbing trees, excellent hunter, and she can sprint for more than two miles. She also can tell whether plants are poisonous or not.

Weaknesses: She is deathly afraid of snakes, if someone killed one of her allies she would want revenge, and she would scream when she was in pain.

Weapon of Choice: Her daggers, poisonous blow darts, and (if possible) bow and arrow.

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: All the weapons above.

**~Male- **Apollo Jackson **(Creator: k8e429)**

Age: 16

District: 2

Personality: He is cocky and believes that he can win no matter what. He wants  
to win this because his dad has cancer and he has to take care of him all the  
time. Though he seems cocky and annoying on the outside, he really cares about  
his loved ones.

Appearance: He is very handsome, and he takes advantage of it. He has black  
hair that is very long and falls in his face. His eyes are almond shaped and  
chocolate brown. He has big muscles and he is 6 foot even.

Family/Friends:

Family: His dad is James Jackson and he is deathly ill. His mom, Helen, must  
take care of the whole family. He has a younger sister named Diamond and a  
twin named Jesmina.

Friends: Katriana Walker- His ex-girlfriend. They are still friends, though.

Hector Gabriel- His best friend. They have known each other since they were 5

History: His parents had him and his sister when they were only 16. His  
grandparents hate them and disowned the family.

District Token: A mockingjay pendat on a piece of string from Diamond. He  
wears it under his clothes.

Interview Angle: Charming

Strengths: He is very strong and can throw knives deathly accurate. He is also  
a fast runner.

Weaknesses: He is bad with a bow and arrow and cannot hide very well.

Weapon of Choice: Knives

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: He threw knives at  
a target.

**Escort: **Gretchen Franks **(Creator: XxXHappyGirlXxX)**

Age: 21

Appearance: She is a very young mentor, and very tall. She is 5'10" and has jet-black hair. Her eyes are a violet color, but have specks of silver in them.

Personality: She is goofy and immature and loves to joke around with the tributes. She is hardly ever serious, but when she is, she means what she says.

**-Stylist Team: ****(Creator: XxXHappyGirlXxX)**

Head Stylist Name: Geovani

Appearance: He is a short, pudgy man with lime green hair and bright aqua-blue eyes.

Personality: He is very hyper, and works fast. It's almost as if you put him on fast-forward.

Team Members: Helan, a short girl with a big mouth. Gergeo, a tall, quiet man. And Fiona, a sweet girl who doesn't know when to stop talking.

**Mentor: **Claude** (Creator: Haley's Comet)**

Appearance: Claude is a young mentor, winning only 5 years ago. He's tall, has an average build, and has pale, flawless skin. His bone structure in his cheeks, jaw, and chin are very distinct, harsh lines, making him appear cruel and dangerous. He has dark circles under his eyes that bring out the brilliant light blue of his irises. His hair is black and thick, and goes into a braid just below his shoulders.

Personality: Claude is a man of few words. He never reveals what he's thinking, which becomes a dangerous weapon. He very rarely loses his temper. He's strict, but not particularly malicious. He is very engaged with his tributes, and takes things very seriously.

How did they win the games?: Claude joined up with the other careers. Once they had killed all but one tribute from another district, Claude separated himself from the remaining careers as they slept. Just in time, it seems, because there was an ambush. Claude heard the cannons announcing that all but one tribute was dead. When Claude found the remaining opponent, she was badly injured with an arrow sticking out of her chest. She reached out her hand and begged for mercy. He walked behind her, and snapped her neck… quick and painless.

* * *

**District Three: (Electronics/Factories)**

Tributes:

**~Female-** Iella Callister **(Creator: Penelope Wendy Bing)**

Age: 16

Personality: Quiet and thoughtful. She's tougher than she looks. She's part of an all-girl gang that lives in an abandoned warehouse. She's spent her life stealing and being involved in small street scuffles. Luckily, the violence isn't too bad where she lives, but it's still been enough to toughen her to violence. She's quiet and serious, although she cares desperately about her friends and her younger brother. She seldom is open about her emotions, but she feels them just as keenly as anyone else.

Appearance: Petite and undernourished from not eating right. She has a large amount of scars from fist and knife fights. She has an average skin tone, with long dark brown hair and grayish-green eyes. She has a very serious air about her, although her face is usually kept blank. She walks with purpose.

Family/Friends:

Bryll: Seven-year-old brother.

Asha: Her friend, and the leader of the gang.

She's close to all of the girls in the gang, but mostly to Asha. All of the girls sort of regard Bryll as a little brother.

History: She and her brother ran away from their abusive parents five years ago. They joined in with the gang almost immediately. When the gang violence flared up in their area, the old leader of the gang was killed and Asha took leadership. She and Iella had been best friends for years, so she naturally became Asha's lieutenant. It's been that way for years. Now she just wants to come back. First, so that she doesn't have to die. Second, so that she can give the gang girls and her brother a better life.

District Token: A necklace Asha gave her, with a tarnished silver charm that twists into a complicated shape.

Interview Angle: Strong and quiet.

Strengths: She's had a lot of experience in hand-to-hand combat from her time in the gang, as well as with using knives. She's done enough stealing to make her fast and light on her feet, as well as adept at sneaking around and not being caught.

Weaknesses: Little physical strength. She is used to being a protector, and so she has a big weakness for younger children.

Weapon of Choice: Knives.

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: Her knife skills and agility.

**~Male- **Knox Brigg **(Creator: redgummybear93)**

Age: 18

Gender: Male

Strengths: Knox is a master wielder and can make almost anything if he has the  
right materials. Since he spent a lot of time welding and working with metal  
he is extreamly strong and could beat anyone in a battle of strength.

Weaknesses: While Knox is strong he is tall and large because of his muscles.  
He is weak to someone small and fast. He himself is not very fast

Personality: Knox is very temperamental and can snap at any moment. He never  
wanted to be in the Hunger Games, but he told himself that if he were he would  
win. He perseveres and believes in himself. He is very skeptical and only  
trusts himself.

Family: Is an only child and lives happily with both his parents. He is very  
lucky to have grown up in a happy home.

Friends: Knox has two best friends. Sinna Lyx and Rhodey Jax. Sinna and  
Knoxare like siblings and he would do anything for her. Rhodey and Knox used  
to hate each other, but realized they had a common ground in wielding and  
became fast friends.

Appearance: Knox is perfectly tanned and is very muscular. He is very tall at  
6"3 and looks very menacing. Knox has narrow brown eyes and a black hair in a  
buzz cut. (Think Puck from Glee)

Bio: Knox has always lived happily with his parents and his best friend Sinna.  
Knox was never skilled in school and felt that he had nothing going for him.  
He discovered his talent for metal works and learned to strive at that. As his  
muscles grew so did his ego and he started many fights with lesser kids. He  
eventually stopped after a fight with Rhodey Jax, his future best friends and  
for Sinna's sake because she was always worried about him.

Knox did not volunteer

Reaping Outfit: To the reaping he wore a white muscle tank top, and a red  
dress shirt over it. He wears black skinny jeans and dress shoes as well as  
rings and bracelets made of different metals.

Token: He wears a metal bracelet fashioned out of silver for him from Sinna.

Weapon of Choice: Brute Strength (He could kill a bear... he's that strong) or  
a club

Skill to show: His strength and ability to destroy everything in his path.

**Escort: **Luke Kelpanns** (Created By: ama116823)**

Age: 37

Appearance: 7'11"(due to alternations), orange skin so bright it hurts to look at him, baby blue hair to his elbows, and pure white eyes.

Personality: He is self-absorbed.

**Stylist Team: ****(Creator: XxXHappyGirlXxX)**

Head Stylist Name: Ashtlynn "Ash" Gregovich

Appearance: She has bubble-gum pink hair and bright blue eyes. She is rather  
short and small. Her skin is dyed a light blue.

Personality: While she may look small, Ash has an attitude to make up for it.  
She follows her natural instincts and she always makes her tributes look  
amazing.

Team Members:

Amara- Amara is a tall girl with green hair, yellow cat-like eyes and a big  
mouth. She says what's on her mind without thinking twice.

Jaylor- Jaylor is a petite, quite girl. She is down-to-earth and actually  
looks normal. She has naturally pale skin, black hair, and dark blue eyes.

Gia- Gia is nice girl with purple dyed skin, bleach-white hair, and silver  
eyes. She is a judgmental girl who can be nasty, but is nice and loyal to her  
friends and family.

**Mentor: **Georgio Hernadez** (Creator: XxXHappyGirlXxX)**

Appearance: He is a short, muscular man. He has black spikey hair and stormy  
gray eyes. He is very young, only 20 and won the games when he was only 17.

Personality: He is a quite boy around the cameras and Capitol people, but when  
you are alone with him, he is a funny, sarcastic man with a unique sense of  
humor.

How did they win the games?: He hid all by himself, letting the other  
tributes kill each other off. When it was down to the final three, he showed  
his violent side and killed the other two gruesomely.

* * *

**District Four: (Fishing)**

Tributes:

**~Female-** Belle Petals **(Creator: Jaimelah)**

Age: 16

Personality: She's a super hyper and energetic person, and you can't help but smile when you're around her. She's usually always happy and she's very charming and sweet, but if she doesn't like you or trust you, she will be very cold and mean. She has a hard time trusting people, and you shouldn't cross her. She can see through most lies, and is very intelligent. She's always sweet, and nice to little kids.

Appearance: She's a tiny thing, only standing at about 5'1 with a slender body and dainty bone structure. Her hair is a pale silver blonde, and hangs to her waist in loose curls. Her skin is snow white and flawless. Her face is heart shaped with full pink lips and a small button nose. Her eyes are huge and child-like, with long and thick lashes surrounding them. They are a brilliant deep emerald color that pops against her skin. She's very beautiful.

Family/Friends: Her mom died when she was only twelve, and she has a little brother who is seven and his name is Daniel. He looks just like Belle, and she would do anything for him. Her dad is a drunk, who spends all his time at work and is rarely home. Belle takes care of Daniel and is like his mother. She has tons of friends, too many to name, but her best friends name is Jasmine. Belle is well known around her district and everyone loves her except for the jealous girls.

History: Her mother died when she was eleven, and then Belle had a hard time taking care of Daniel because her father started to drink more and more and he never came home because he didn't want to see his children that looked just like their mother. So, now Belle is always taking care of her sweet younger brother, and he is practically her world.

District Token: Her mother's engagement ring. It's a simple gold band with one single, huge diamond in the center.

Interview Angle: Charming and sweet, yet mysterious.

Strengths: She is a super-fast runner and she has quick reflexes. She knows many herbs and berries and she can hide and climb well. She can also swim and hit any target with a bow and arrow and is ok with knives.

Weaknesses: She can't use any big or heavy weapons, and she sucks at hand to hand combat. She cannot hunt well, and she is afraid to be alone.

Weapon of choice: Bow and arrow

She plans to show the game makers her incredible speed and bow and arrow skill.

**~Male- **Brighton/Bright **(Creator: Haley's Comet)**

Age: 17

Personality: His personality matches his name; Bright. He's good humored, kind, loving, loyal, and very positive. He loves joking around, and has a joyous, fiery spirit not easily extinguished. He's always carefully weighing his options, every decision he makes being put to a scale with its consequences in his mind. He can always grit his teeth and get unpleasant jobs done, very much being a _whistle-while-you-work_ type.

Appearance: Bright has light blond hair that always seems to be in a mess, no matter how much he may try to tame it. His eyes are light blue around small pupils with dark, navy rings on the outer layer of the iris. His beautifully white teeth glisten with every smile. Bright is tall and very well built. His skin is fairly tan, and almost always a little sunburned on his shoulders and under his eyes.

Family/Friends: He lives with his mother, Ingrid, and kid sister, Natalie. Ingrid is a wonderful artist and musician. Natalie is only 5 years old, and means the world to Bright.

Bright is very well-liked and has many friends, but his best friend is Cam. Cam is his neighbor, and practically his brother, always over at Bright's house. Cam has a father with a violent temper, so he rarely likes to stay at his own house. Bright and his family are always willing to take Cam in. His next best friend is Mel. Mel was Bright's first girlfriend, but it didn't last long. They had more of a brother and sister relationship than anything else.

History: His father left when the going got rough, and Bright has been a fisherman ever since to support his family. So, in all, he's not particularly wealthy for his district. He has spent his life laughing even the most painful things off, resulting in his mother nicknaming him Sunshine. Most children would be embarrassed by endearing childish pet names from their mothers, but he didn't care. In a few years, it seemed like all the shopkeepers and other various townsfolk were calling him Sunshine.

District Token: A beaded key chain he received from Mel with a goofy looking swordfish on the end of it. Mel always jokes around with Bright, saying the swordfish resembles him.

Interview Angle: Funny, a bit dorky, and just likable.

Strengths: Being from the fish district, Bright can use a trident with accuracy and is very good with nets. He can construct things easily out of wire, including fishing hooks. He's also very strong, and could do well at hand-to-hand combat if it came down to it. He's very loyal, and very protective. He can use knives with precision, used to filleting fish, but has no skill in throwing them. He has a very understanding nature, and is never one to judge others.

Weaknesses: His trust in people can sometimes be a little much. He's not very good at staying hidden or staying quiet, because of his size. He doesn't always take situations as seriously as he should.

Weapon of Choice: Trident

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: He'll use the trident a bit, and show off a few nets. The he'll maybe lift some weights.

**Escort: **Bathilda **(Creator: Haley's Comet)**

Age: 42

Appearance: Dark brown hair pulled into a tight bun, showing off her lovely shoulders, jaw, and cheekbones. She has lovely olive toned skin that is completely flawless.

Personality: She talks in an exquisite, calming voice that draws attention to anyone within earshot. She's charming, social, and always smiling.

**Stylist Team: ****(Creator: Comet Crossover)**

Head Stylist Name: Adwin

District: 4

Appearance: An extremely short, extremely bald, extremely talented man.

Personality: He's very quiet, and only engages in conversation with his clients as he's posing them. He never tells them what he's going to do with them, even when asked directly. He ignores these types of questions completely, and lets them wait until he's finished with them to see the final product. He smiles proudly every time he sees the look of surprise on a client's face. He truly loves his work.

Team Members: The rest of the team consists of Marcy, Hugo, and Leslie. They all work just as silently as Adwin when he's around, but when he's out the door, they throw the strict professionalism out with him. Hugo has orange-ish red hair, which would fall just below his eyes, but he spikes it up. Marcy is the smallest and quietest of the three, and always wears an abundance of black eyeliner, making her resemble a raccoon with busy fingers. Leslie, the loudest one of the three, has plum-colored skin and gold tattoos. Her hair is raspberry colored, and cut into a curly, angled bob.

**Mentor: **Gregor **(Creator: Haley's Comet)**

Appearance: A larger, taller man that used to be very strong in his youth. Now he's in his late thirties, and really let himself go since he was in the games. His blonde hair is just starting to get thin at the back of his head, and wrinkles are appearing around his baggy, sullen eyes, but Gregor isn't vain enough to get himself cosmetically altered. He has sad, pale, tired looking blue eyes and ears a bit larger than normal.

Personality: Gregor is a very sad man, never completely recovering from the Games. The events that went down in the arena still haunt him, and it always hurts just the same when one of his tributes dies.

How did they win the games?: Gregor and Anna, the other girl in his district, teamed up with the rest of the careers. The careers were particularly malicious that year, causing Gregor to believe that it would be safer to distance himself from them. He didn't trust them. Anna decided to come with him, and they remained allies. Anna and Gregor were ambushed, and Anna was killed by an arrow piecing her left lung. Gregor avenged Anna's death with his trident. After a while, it was down to Gregor, and one more career name May. By the time May found Gregor, she was already injured, blood gushing from her abdominal. She came up from behind him, and clubbed him. He fell to the ground unconscious just as she fell too, but from blood loss. She ended up dying before him, but by the time he was taken out of the arena, Gregor had irreversible brain damage that meant having a tremor in his right hand for life.

* * *

**District Five: (DNA Splicing)**

Tributes:

**~Female:**Lissa Hendricks **(Creator: Stratagem)**

Age: 13

Personality: Lissa's a liar, plain and simple. Trickery and fraud are how  
she lives her life, and everyone who is close to her knows she's a chronic  
liar. A very, very good actress, she has perfected the art of being deceptive.  
She can be an ice princess one minute, a bubbly social butterfly the next, and  
if you turn away for a moment, you might turn back to find a normal person.  
She has played so many angles that she's not entirely sure what she's  
really like anymore. She also likes playing practical jokes and starting  
malicious rumors about people and making sure they spread. Embarrassing other  
people is a very enjoyable pastime according to Lissa. She has a soft spot for  
animals and has something of a menagerie of strays in her home, but she takes  
very good care of all of them.

Appearance: Lissa is something of a wraith. She has pale, almost translucent  
skin, black hair that can be styled by Lissa into looking pathetic and lanky  
to shiny and lush, and dark brown eyes that can cry or shimmer or whatever at  
will. She's of an average height, being 5'5", and she's very skinny.

Family/Friends: Lissa doesn't really have any friends because no one can  
stand all of that lying. She has a few acquaintances, but no one she would  
really be close to. However, she is close to her older brother, Padraig, who  
has been practically raising her since their father, Louis, is an alcoholic  
and their mother, Jana, is a morphling. Padraig is 20-years-old and looks like  
a male version of Lissa; he's much taller and just as skinny as Lissa.  
He's sarcastic and aloof, but he cares a lot about Lissa and likes her even  
though she lies all the time. Lissa also has a black mutt, Frax, who follows  
her everywhere.

History: Lissa and her family have alternated between homeless and shabby  
shacks since she was a baby. They were always poor because both her parents  
were jobless because of physical handicaps sustained while at work. Her father  
became a drunkard and works his own still while her mother became a morphling  
because of the pain of her injuries. Padraig took over raising Lissa, but she  
often accompanied her parents into the black markets. She learned how to get  
what she wanted by lying and honed her acting. At school, she decided to focus  
on learning about poisons since she was always aware of the threat that she  
would be chosen for the Hunger Games. Since her District is partly  
science-focused, learning about poisons and dangerous substances and liquids  
has been easy.

District Token: Padraig's handkerchief. It's worn and has a hole in one of  
the corners, but he gave it to her, so she's keeping it close. Who knows,  
maybe it'll come in handy.

Interview Angle: Lissa's the faint, shy, weak-willed, delicate one, of  
course. Ready to pass out or weep at the slightest provocation. At least, in  
the interview…

Strengths:

-extremely deceptive and amoral

-intelligent/clever

-extensive knowledge of poisons

Weaknesses:

-cannot swim

-adverse to killing animals

-doesn't know how to wield melee weapons

Weapon of Choice: Poison and Deception

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: Ability to act and  
deceive and her extensive knowledge of poisons.

**~Male- **Tristan Black **(Creator: Catherine Daughter of Apollo)**

Age: 16

Personality: Tristan has the air of a trouble maker about him. is a joker and always seems to have a joke or a smart remark available. He is a little spoiled having grown up in the victor's village but luckily his girlfriend, friends and family keep him in line. He is very cocky and a bit of the class clown type. Though sometimes he comes off as flippant and spoiled he is a hard worker when he puts his mind to it and he has a big heart and hates seeing people unhappy. He is fiercely loyal. He loves his family and friends more than anything and will go to the ends of the earth for them. He swears to return to them no matter what.

Appearance: Tristan is tall and well-built from farm work. He has jet black hair which is very neat. He has eyes that are the color of amber and has tanned skin.

Family/Friends: Tristan lives with his father Spartacus who won the games as a child, and his mother Cordelia and little sister Lilith. Tristan also has a girlfriend who he is very much in love with named Rose. His best friends are his classmates Fionn and Damien

History: Tristan was raised in the victor's village and trained by his father at a young age because Tristan and his family knew that either him or Lilith would inevitably be thrown into the games. Although his family lives a privileged life he still feels the sting of the Capitol's iron grip. Every day he walks into the district to see people starving and suffering. The hunger games have affected his father and Tristan hates seeing his father's pain when he remembers the games. For this very reason he hates the games and Capitol with a passion and wants more than anything to see them brought down.

District Token: A cord necklace with a cross that was given to him by Rose his girlfriend.

Interview Angle: playing the bad boy.

Strengths: Having received training from his father he is quite deadly with a sword and skilled in hand to hand combat. He knows some basic survival skills. His main strength though is that he is very determined and he never gives up. He will fight through anything if it means surviving the games.

Weaknesses: He is very cocky and his ego can get the better of him. He is very impulsive and rushes into situations without thinking them through. He is also very passionate and easily provoked which goes hand in hand with the impulsiveness.

Weapon of Choice: sword

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: He will demonstrate empty handed fighting forms and sword forms probably destroying a few training dummies in the process.

**Escort: **Ray Terrell **(Creator: cachivache)**

Age: 35

Appearance: He's short. And wearing fancy platform shoes doesn't help to make  
him look a bit taller. In fact they make him look just ridiculous. He's bald  
but instead of wear any wigs he decided to get his head tattooed with Indian  
yellow and golden patterns and paints his fingernails in the same colors. His  
eyes are brown and his eyebrows and eyelashes are dyed in a somewhat  
disgusting orange.

Personality: Despite his size he has a huge temper and can get easily upset if  
you make fun about his size. All what he wants is a bit respect. If you  
respect him (or at least act like that in front of him) he'll be strongly  
determined to find some sponsors for you. Ray always appreciates the people  
who are grateful for his efforts.

**Stylist Team:**** (Creator: Haley's Comet)**

Head Stylist Name: Daphne

Appearance: Daphne has long, orange, curly pigtails, and purple contacts. She's very mousy and young looking, and has long, slender, hasty fingers. She scrunches up her face slightly when she works, making her look even more like a rodent.

Personality: She gets impatient with lots of questions, and is very particular with her work. She hates being distracted, and can sometimes come off as snappish.

Team Members: Winston, Mac, and Gabriel.

**Mentor: **Patrick Kinnely** (Creator: ama118623)**

Appearance: Tall hippie like man.

Personality: He is always seems high on something. When he isn't he is down and depressed.

How did they win the games?: He hid in a cave with a girl from district 11 and killed her when it came to the final two.

* * *

**District Six: (Scientific Research)**

Tributes:

**~Female-** Cinder Morrison **(Creator: cachivache)**

Age: 15

Personality & History: She's always been a bit pessimistic about the life in  
her district and the Games, but since her brother died it worsened. There is  
simply nobody who could cheer her up like her brother used to do.

He died in an explosion that set a great part of the old factory where he  
worked with his father on fire six months ago. Cinder was just searching the  
worker rooms in the factory when it happened. She wanted to bring her brother  
a coppery necklace he usually wore all the day, and had forgotten to put on.  
However she was in the wrong place at the wrong time -like the little boy who  
was terrified of the fire but couldn't get out of his hiding place (lil' kid  
that was stupid enough to play there hide-and-seek with his friends). Cinder  
ran instinctively from the fire to but stopped when she noticed the boy. She  
helped him out of his hiding place and took him as fast as she could out of  
the burning factory. This gave the flames the chance to catch on and singe  
her hair while burning the clothes on her back. Once on the outside people  
came to take care of the injured ones. But Cinder ignored the pain on her back  
and the boy that was still by her side shocked.

She kept looking to the few survivors that were escaping the fire. Hoping to  
find her dad and her brother. Only her father was among them; he was badly  
injured.

Cinder couldn't believe her brother left them just like this. She was rather  
angry at him. It was easier for her to be angry than sad. He wouldn't have  
liked to see her crying. As she thinks about this she realizes how pathetic  
she is. It doesn't bring him back, does it?

Since then she's been quite capricious and gets easily annoyed by anything and  
anyone (though you could say she's most of the time nice to her parents) The  
biggest target of her moods is the little boy from the factory. He simply  
annoys her while following her everywhere (unfortunately he lives in the same  
quarter) she tells him how upset she is because of him and doesn't care if she  
hurts his feelings -she doesn't care in general if she hurts the feelings of  
others-; but he doesn't wanna leave her alone. Cinder thinks that either he's  
just a stupid kid or that he thinks he owes her for saving him. However she  
tries to ignore her second shadow.

(She can be also pretty resourceful if she's once in her life in a good mood.  
Though that's rare..)

Appearance:Cinder's a bit under average height and skinny. She used to have  
long ash brown hair, but since the explosion singed some of it down, she  
cutted it till her chin. Now it's almost always messy looking. Her stylist  
will probably give her a layered bob cut (but keeping the messiness of her  
hair). She's got hazel eyes and a burn scar that goes from her left shoulder  
to the middle of her back. It hurts occasionally.

Family/Friends: Both her mother and father are still alive. Though her father  
has now a crippled leg from the explosion that killed her older brother (he  
was nineteen at that time).

Her mom is strong minded and has done all possible to have her children have a  
better life than her own. Especially since her husband got a crippled leg and  
can't work anymore.

She's got the pessimistic way of seeing things from her father. He has a calm  
attitude but has never been a great help in being optimistic.

Cinder has a few friends from her quarter but has isolated herself from them  
since the whole explosion thing. She simply doesn't want their pity. The only  
one that keeps following her like a lost puppy is the little boy she saved  
from the fire.

District Token: Her brother's necklace

Interview Angle: Mysterious with some sharp-tongued remarks

Strengths: Since Cinder is from the poorer part of her district she's good at  
rationing food and is used to not eat so much, so she won't suffer that fast  
from hunger. She has also a pretty good eyesight and could learn in training  
how to throw knives and daggers. If she has to she can run fast (but not for  
so long).

Weaknesses: Cinder + nature = total disaster. She knows practically nothing  
about edible plants and even if she'd learn something about them in training  
it's likely she would choose the deadly plant to eat unless it's obvious it's  
poisonous (like a crazy colored berry or mushroom)

She sucks also at hunting and refusing to kill animals isn't the problem. The  
problem is, if you wanna kill an animal you've got to find one. But if you  
move too quick you'll only scare the game off (Cinder's a master at this being  
impatient).

Cinder hasn't got the greatest stamina either. Breathing the chemical gases  
that pass occasionally through her quarter just hasn't done anything good to  
her health.

Weapon of Choice: Her sharp tongue and knifes or daggers

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: Knifethrowing

**~Male-** Duke Kyl **(Creator: Sarah)**

Age: 18

Personality: Duke prefers not to talk, but when he does it is intended to hurt, normally in the form of a smart ass comment. He is happiest when he is alone. Duke has a short temper when it comes to people, and he holds grudges. But he is cool, measured, and collected when it comes to pay back. He does not react to blind rage. He plans his revenge, and he plans it to be bloody, slow, and cause his victim extreme agony.

Appearance: Tall, 6'7", and covered in lean muscle. He has wide shoulders and a thin waist. His hands are large and tough. Duke has a longer face, high cheekbones, and a prominent jawbone. His eyes are a vivid violet that sparkle cruelly with dark intentions and menace. His hair is made up of messy large black curls that sit uncontrolled on his head. He has scars up and down his arms. He is very attractive.

Family/Friends: Duke's father is the Mayor of his district, and so richer than everyone else. His mother is young and beautiful, the mayor's mistress, so Duke has no relationship with his father, not that he would have one. He ignores his mother, who holds no control over her angry child. Duke has three stepbrothers and one stepsister. Only one of the stepbrothers is older than him, the rest of the children are younger than him, but no matter age, all fear him. He has no friends but he has a relationship with a girl, age of sixteen, who is considered a witch. Her name is Syra, and she is as cruel as he is. When he is leaving for the reaping he just had learned that she is pregnant.

History: Duke grew up in a nice home with plenty of money from the mayor. His mother is clueless and ignorant, giving no guidance or rules to her troubled child. Duke had too much free time, and he used it to burn anything and everything, but never to hurt anyone. At age seven he made his one and only friend, nine year old Karla. She was drawn to his purple eyes, and soon learned to ignore his cruel words. She saw how he was alone and she started to care for him. She gave him a gift, a ring in the shape of a rose. The thick band was too big for the seven year old Duke so he stole one of his mother's chain necklaces and strung the ring around his neck. Karla was the district sweetheart. Everyone loved her, and everyone hated to see her caring for Duke. She tried to help Duke, she wanted him to get better, which made him mad because in his mind he had no issues. They got in a fight and Duke ran to an old abandoned barn and started to burn it. He sat in it, watching the flames engulf the dry hay and wooden pillars, oblivious to the fact that outside a crowd was growing and Karla was panicking, knowing he was inside. Duke had every intention of leaving the barn once the flames became too hot, but Karla thought he was going to burn himself, so in a terror she ran in one side to save him as he left through the other. Karla burned to death, the entire town weeping at the sound of her gruesome screams as the smell of her burning flesh blanketed the crowd. Duke's chance of ever being happy burned along with Karla's scorched body. The District mourned Karla's death and blamed every part of it on the horrified seven-year-old boy who just witnesses his only friend burn alive. That would mess anyone up. That is when he began to terrorize all the people who were ever mean to him. After the fire he began slicing open his arms and he would walk through the roads and crowds of people with a rose ring strung on a chain around his neck and blood dripping from his fingertips.

District Token: A rose ring strung on a chain around his neck. Now the ring is much too small to fit on any of his fingers.

Interview Angle: No angle, he is not a people pleaser (He will not talk during the interview).

Strengths: He has a high pain tolerance, courtesy of the angry scars up and down his arms. Duke is in excellent physical condition. He is very cleaver when it comes to hurting people. He listens and learns their weaknesses and fears, and he learns to torment them.

Weaknesses: Terrified of fire. Also, when he kills people, he plays with them. So it will take him much longer to eliminate enemies. And Duke has never hurt anyone who has done nothing to him, only people who he has personal issues with.

Weapon of Choice: He will use anything, and he will use it creatively.

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers? He will just stand there if he has nothing against them. He could care less about pleasing them. But if one of them insulted him, or upset him he would tell a story about torturing someone, to let them know what was coming to them.

**Escort: **Pyrois Elios **(Creator: redgummybear93)**

Age: 30

Appearance: Pyrois was named after a one of Helios' horses. Since Helios is  
the god of the sun, Pyrois tries to make himself look as much like the sun as  
possible. Pyrois stands at 6"2, is has a Mediterranean complexion and  
genetically altered gold eyes. Pyrois has bleach blonde hair if it was any  
lighter it would be whit, his hair used to be black. He also has gold tattoo  
lines running up his arms and legs, on his left check, in red, is the planet  
symbol for the sun.

Personality: Despite his "sunny" appearance, Pyrois isn't exactly happy. He's  
like Effie, he wished he had one of the first three districts, but now that he  
has Six, he's a bit sulky. Pyrois does realize however that these children are  
probably well mannered and clean. So he is happy he doesn't have to deal with  
the "dirt" from the lower districts. He's also very over dramatic and takes  
things to the extreme. He loves to put on a show, he is the ultimate Leo (His  
zodiac sign). His personal image is essential to him. All he wants is to look  
good. He is very vain as well.

**Stylist Team: ****(Creator: Penelope Wendy Bing)**

Head Stylist Name: Jilsa Marko

Appearance: Hair that stands straight up from her head like a troll doll's, but not quite as long and with way more hairspray. Her hair is cherry red and quite obviously a wig. Her eyes are bright green, and one of her only remaining natural physical features. She has a ton of tattoos in different metallic colors.

Personality: She knows what she's doing and you better shut up about it. You as the tribute are no more than the canvas on which she displays her art. She's been in this business for a long time and your opinion does not matter to her. Deal with it.

Team Members: Josee Beelin  
Kirvis Dork  
Fabio Pillia

**Mentor: **

Morgandy Bruins **(Creator: redgummybear93)**

Age:27

Gender: Female

Appearance: Morgandy has long brown hair which she keeps in a high ponytail.  
She is fairly muscular and has an athletic build. She has small scars on her  
body from being attacked by tracker-jackers in her games. She originally had  
dark brown eyes, but after the games she asked to have them lightened. Now her  
eyes are a golden brown that look like gold in the sunlight.

Personality: Morgandy won't take s*it from anyone, she will do whatever it  
takes so her tributes win. She won't ever give up. She is very intelligent and  
often makes people fall into traps. Her biggest pet peeve is people thinking  
District Six is weak.

How did they win the games?: She won, much like Johanna, she pretended to be  
weak and formed alliances with many. Nobody expected the girl from district  
six to win. After all, that district is based on scientific research. However  
Morgandy was very deceiving, she made alliances, only to kill them off when  
they were injured or weak. Her weapon of choice was a staff, she used to beat  
her opponents with it.

**

* * *

**

**District Seven: (Lumber)**

Tributes:

**~Female-** Acacia "Ace" Conifer **(Creator: CloudyNK)**

Age: 16

Personality: Ace is a tough sassy girl with lots of spunk and determination. She isn't afraid to tell people what she thinks and doesn't care what other think of her. She is tough as nails and can take whatever life throws at her and throw it back yelling "Screw you life!" But like everyone there is a spark of kindness that can only be brought out by the right guy.

Appearance: Ace is pretty average and doesn't care much about her appearance. Her hair is jet black and is kept in a short spiky pixie cut; she likes her hair short that way it doesn't get in her way. She has fair skin and no freckles or but there is a scar on her right arm from when she got hit by a drunkard with an axe. Her eyes are pale green and sometimes considered icy. Ace isn't tall but she's very average height standing at 5'4" and is built rather sturdy with wide shoulders and slight curves.

Family/Friends: Jet-(Father) He is hardly ever home.

May-(Mother) She tries to be kind but has to many daughters, never gets enough sleep, and is very stressed out.

Willow-(Sister) Willow is thirteen and doesn't want to be a lumberjack she wants to be an artist.

March-(Sister) March was born in March and hate her name, she's ten and insists in being called "Lilly" it's her middle name.

Rosemary-(Sister) Rosemary is six and prefers to be called Rose. A complete cry baby.

Jade-(Sister) She's the baby of the family, (she's 4). Hates being treated like a baby.

History: Acacia and her father work their butts off providing for the family and are both lumberjacks.

District Token: A gold anklet with a brown axe charm on it.

Interview Angle: Sassy and Spunky

Strengths: She is very strong from cutting trees so she's good at hand to hand combat. As a lumberjack she is a natural with an axe. She can climb trees like a squirrel and is very agile. Surprisingly Ace is a very fast runner. Knows all about trees and a little about plants. In training she learned throwing knives. Good at camouflage.

Weaknesses: Ace is terrible at making friends but would eventually find friends. She cannot start fires. And her medicine skills would more likely kill someone than save them. Ace is a totally failure with swimming she'd drown if the water got over her head.

Weapon of Choice: Axe

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: She plans to throw axes at the dummy's and targets.

**~Male-** Anton** (Creator: Comet Crossover)**

Age: 14

Personality: From afar he's quiet, detached, and unapproachable. Once you get him talking, you quickly learn how sarcastic, arrogant, and self-righteous he is, even as a kid. He has a big mouth that gets him into trouble and an attitude that makes him seem like he's got a death wish… And maybe he does. Underneath the brash exterior, he's insecure, and filled with all kinds of self-loathing.

Appearance: When people in district 7 first look at Anton, they don't see his dark brown locks, falling into his face. They don't acknowledge his beautiful, emerald eyes, or boyish stature. They don't take any notice to his tan, freckled skin. When people look at Anton, all they see is the right half of his face, which is badly burned and scarred. It will be, for the rest of his life, all anybody sees.

Family/Friends: He has a mother. He hates her; she hates him. End of story.

He has no friends to speak of.

History: Anton grew up with his mother, who he hated. She was a sharp-tongued, callous, abusive woman with nobody to care for but herself. She made Anton cook for her, clean for her, sign up for tesserae, and put money on the table. His scar on the right side of his face was received when she held a scalding frying pan to his face after he burned dinner. Everyone in town assumed the burn came from an out-of-control camp fire, which is what the mother told him to proclaim. Everyone believed it except for the doctor who treated the burn the best he could after it got infected. He patted Anton on the shoulder sympathetically, knowing the real reason for his now scarred face. He told Anton that he pitied him, and that he shouldn't have to live in such a dangerous environment, to which Anton quickly replied, "Don't worry about me, Doc. My home is plenty stable. In fact, by the time I need to come back to get something else fixed up, you probably won't even be around anymore, by the look of you. You'll croak long before I ever will, dangerous environment or not."

District Token: Anton didn't have anything meaningful he could bring to the capital, so he went out into the woods, found an acorn, made a hole through the top of it, put in on a string, and tied it around his neck. One token of his district: Check.

Interview Angle: Anton knew he should probably play the young and helpless card, but he just couldn't swallow his pride. He came off as a scrappy, overconfident, punk kid; just as he is.

Strengths: He has two years' experience working in the forest harvesting lumber, so he knows how to use an axe, but he wouldn't exactly call himself an expert. His best chance in any competition is out-smarting his opponents, because he's something of a prodigy. He has a remarkable photographic memory and has an easy time memorizing facts. This makes him great at identifying plants. He's also a fast runner for his age, but wouldn't stand a chance against strong, grown, 18 year old boys.

Weaknesses: Anton has a crazy temper. He will never forgive and forget, so if someone insults him, even someone twice his size, he'll shoot off his big mouth. His biggest disadvantage is his age, and inexperience. He thinks he can do a lot more than he actually can.

Weapon of Choice: Axe

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: Throwing around an axe.

**Escort: **Cynthia **(Creator: Haley's Comet)**

Age: 35

Appearance: Cynthia is small both in height, and stature. She has raspberry red curls that reach her shoulders, and yellow cat eyes from cosmetic alterations.

Personality: Bubbly, sweet, and a little naïve. She's pretty clueless sometimes, but she goes out her way to be kind to everyone, especially her tributes.

**Stylist Team: ****(Creator: CloudyNK)**

Head Stylist Name: Ronnie Floral

District: 7

Appearance: Ronnie has pale green hair with flowers woven in and fairy wings on her back. She has deep green eyes and appears to have no pupils. She is 5'7" and curvy.

Personality: Ronnie is very bubbly and insanely hyper; she's like a chipmunk on red bull.

Team Members: Terra Mercki (female Angel Mystery (Female), and Chance Moss (Male)

**Mentor: **Holly "Pixie" Evergreen **(Creator: CloudyNK)**

Age: 19

Appearance: Holly has her brown hair shoulder length and always wears it in a neat ponytail. She has fair skin with lots of freckles. Her eyes are dark forest green orbs with flecks of brown. She's curvy and tall.

Personality: Holly is a very badass chick who most people think went a little crazy after the games. Considering she has no family she can do whatever she wants. She tends to be a little violent and "in-your-face" about everything.

How did they win the games?: She started by hiding out and rigging the trees to fall on people. Holly ended up having an axe and sword fight with the girl from District 1 and ended up beheading the poor girl. Holly is still blind in one eye.

* * *

**District Eight: (Textiles)**

Tributes:

**~Female- ****SAVED**

**~Male- **Blake Fields **(Creator: kc256)**

Age: 17

Personality: Blake is very grim and somewhat pessimistic. He dislikes anyone who is optimistic, or even happy. The one exception to this is when he is with his little sister, Larkspur, who is the world to him. He hates the Capitol, but is afraid to start a rebellion.

Appearance: Blake is pretty tall for his age, and is in pretty decent shape. He has dark hair and deep brown eyes that match his personality. He is covered in scars from when he fell off of the Justice Building (which he was climbing for a dare), and landed in a bed of rough gravel. His nose also got broken in that accident. He doesn't bother to make himself look nice, because the only person who he would look nice for is his sister, who doesn't care. So he is pretty ugly.

Family/Friends: Blake has no friends. No one can stand being with him. (Besides Larkspur) His parents are Krystal and Roan Fields. His sister Larkspur is 8, and is the only person who brings him joy.

History: He doesn't really have any history of interest, besides his big fall. His mother is a seamstress, and his father helps her out in running the small business. He does okay in school, just barely passing. His family fares pretty well, and he has only used four tesserae in his lifetime, for a particularly bad year. His family has had their share of struggles, but not as bad as some others.

District Token: His sister's "lucky rock", which is black with green speckles.

Interview Angle: Grim, unloving, and downcast.

Strengths: He can use a slingshot pretty well, and is a decent sprinter. He also never underestimates his opponents, and isn't fazed by beauty. He also is not likely to fall for a trick.

Weaknesses: He has no experience with any weapon other than a slingshot. He doesn't have great endurance in a long-distance race, and is terrified of heights. He does not believe he will be able to win, so he doesn't try as hard as others might. He also knows that he will never be able to kill someone.

Weapon of Choice: Slingshot, for obvious reasons.

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: He will probably shoot at some targets with a slingshot, but his heart won't be in it.

**Escort: **Destiny Differ **(Creator: Stratagem)**

Age: 21

Appearance: With extremely long, straight aquamarine hair, tanned skin with swirly silver tattoos, and a buxom figure, Destiny has a mermaid look going on that would make her more suitable to escort District Four than District Eight. However, she loves clothes and changes her style every day, though she leans toward flowy designs. She's about 5'6" and on the plump side with full cheeks and plump lips.  
Personality: It's all good! Destiny is a go-with-the-flow kind of escort. Oh, you want to sleep in? Okay, sounds good. You don't want to listen to my advice? Suit yourself. Nothing really fazes her; it's all neutral to her. She doesn't really care about whether or not her tributes win and only puts effort into helping them when it suits her. She's in her position because her father was a famous Game Master, not because she's any good at her job. She is, however, a generally positive person and tries to get her tributes to relax.

**Stylist Team: ****(Creator: cachivache)**

Head Stylist Name: Sergius Lindstorm

Appearance: Sergius is on the tall side with his 6"1. He has a turquoise beard  
with small pearls and rings braided in it. His hair is short and also  
turquoise on the under part of the back of his head. The rest of his hair is  
spikey and black with some stripes in different shades of blue. Sergius eyes  
are lime green.

Personality: Sergius tries to reach perfection in his designs because the  
Capitols expectations are always high and because every tribute has the right  
to look the unforgettable as possible before entering the arena. He's very  
serious about his work and can be pretty offended if you doubt his skills.  
Team Members: Ophelia, Dean and Selene

**Mentor: **Parre Ivasmen** (Creator: Penelope Wendy Bing)**

Appearance: Dark brown skin and curly black hair. Today, we'd call her African American or black. She has golden brown eyes and a hard face. She's tall and slim.

Personality: She realistic and brutally honest. She is not going to sugarcoat things at all for those tributes. She's not intentionally rude, but painfully blunt. She is the sort of mentor who won't let you be soft or vulnerable. Unless it's your angle, of course. You can look it, but you're not allowed to feel it. Even if a tribute seems like a lost cause, Parre will talk to them frankly and work out the best strategy for them. She wants to see her kids live, no matter how hard and rude she may seem in the process.

How did they win the games?: The classic, straightforward way. She got her hands on a weapon and fought for her life. She killed five people by the end of the Games. It hardened her.

* * *

**District Nine: (Electricity/Food Processing)**

Tributes:

**~Female-** Farrah Jenkins **(Creator: XxXHappyGirlXxX)**

Age: 16

Personality: She is a sweet and innocent girl. Everybody in the district loves her, yet no one was brave enough to volunteer. She is very insecure and shy.

Appearance: She has long, straight auburn hair with long side bangs that fall in her face and big blue eyes. She is 5'3" and weighs 120 pounds. Overall, she looks very innocent and weak.

Family/Friends:

Dad- Her dad died when Farrah was 8. He was a nice man and everybody loved him.

Mom- Her mom is a sweet and caring, but went slightly mad after her husband died.

Jenna- Jenna is Farrah's older sister and has taken care of her since their father died. She has recently moved out and has a husband, Justin.

Darcy and Daniel- They are Farrah's 12 year old twin siblings.

Caitlynn- Farrah's best friend.

History: Farrah has been scared ever since her father's death, becoming less social. She will only talk with her family and Caitlynn.

District Token: A silver chain with a bow shooting an arrow

Interview Angle: Sweet and innocent.

Strengths: She is small and graceful, so she moves very quietly and fast. She is good with a bow and arrow and can disguise herself well.

Weaknesses: She is not very strong and is bad in hand-to-hand combat. She would also prefer not to kill and hates gore and blood.

Weapon of Choice: Bow and Arrow

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: Target practice.

**~Male- **Felix **(Creator: XALLOWspuffyBuFf)**

Age: 18

Personality: Arrogant, sarcastic, smug, and self-reliant. He's very brilliant, and has no problem letting the world know about it. He has little to no people skills, and doesn't exactly play nice with others. He's a great inventor, and an ever better strategist.

Appearance: He has dark strawberry blond hair that is short with a little bit  
of a curl to it. His eye color is blue and the shape of his eyes are very  
distinct. He is about 5'10" and the build of his body is pretty average. Not  
exactly buff, but not really scrawny either.

Family/Friends: Felix lives with his mother, father, and older brother. His parents are always pushing him to be all that he can, and expand his intelligence to make a life for himself. They're loving, but pushy. Felix works with Radios at his dad's company, and his mother stays at home.

History: From the day that he was able to lift his head up on his own, Felix's parents had put him to work. They made it their mission to expand his mind as far as humanly possible. When he reached the age of eight his father brought him into his shop, an electronic repair, and taught him how to make the most hopeless pieces of junk into something useful. From then on out he was in that shop every day, working until nightfall. His older brother, Mika, has never allowed their parents to push him into anything and constantly tried to rebel against them. It always confused Mika why Felix wouldn't try to do the same. Most children would resent their parents for taking away their childhood, but as the years went on, Felix was more and more thankful for what his parents forced him to acquire; bragging rights.

With his brilliant mind he has found enjoyment in taking whoever challenges him down a few pegs only to boost his own ego that much higher. This proved to be a great quality after all the taunting he hasn't allowed himself to become victim to for the fact that he is gay and has been out since pretty much the day he has been born. While others tried to weaken him by giving him the name Fefe, he has embraced the name and turned it around so they were left powerless.

Felix has never had a friend. Even if he hadn't spent most of his days locked away in his father's store, he was so rude and overbearing that no one has been able to come close to him. This is what makes people think that he could be an easy target. They assume that by all appearances, he has nothing to fight for. He has absolutely no life outside of his own mind that no one can see him desperately holding on to life while in the Hunger games. What they don't know is that he is just as human as anyone else and his heart might be meant for something more. Love perhaps?

District Token: A paper clip. Seriously, just a paper clip. Some may believe that a paperclip may be the most pointless of district tokens, but it is Felix's belief that just one, seemingly simple paperclip is a very versatile weapon in itself. It's an object of an infinite amount of uses.

Interview Angle: Snarky, intelligent, and boastful.

Strengths: He's intelligent, resourceful, inventive, and a master at creating snares and booby-traps. He's also incredibly intuitive, vigilant, and scheming. In other words… he's an evil mastermind.

Weaknesses: Felix is not one for physical, hand-to-hand violence, and prefers to attack from afar. He has very little experience in any type of woods, so he won't be the greatest at living off the land.

Weapon of Choice: Booby-traps

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: Making some snares. He plans on doing a damn good job, but doesn't want to show off too much of his skill, hoping to get an average score so he's not targeted by opponents.

**Escort: **Cameron Buttermore (Creator: Comet Crossover)

Age: 24

Appearance: She has dark, auburn hair, and wide, flat glasses she keeps on a chain. Regardless to her age, she dresses a lot older than she is.

Personality: Cameron is young for an escort, and has a seemingly split personality. She is bubbly and good-humored when she's in front of an audience, but impatient and reserved when she's not.

**Stylist Team: **(Creator: XxXHappyGirlXxX)

Head Stylist Name: Alidia (Ah-Lee-Dee-Ah)

District: 9

Appearance: She has lavender hair with violet highlights. Her eyes are an aqua blue.

Personality: She upbeat and tries to find the good in everybody, but she will not deal with people she doesn't like. She has a unique sense of style and loves glitter.

Team Members: Her team members are:

Vienna- A sweet girl with bleach-blonde hair and lime-green eyes.

Harley- A motor-mouth girl who loves to talk about her life. She is also nice but has trouble not-talking.

Lola- A quiet girl with violet eyes. She doesn't talk much, but when she does, everybody listens

**Mentor: SAVED**

* * *

**District Ten: (Livestock)**

Tributes:

**~Female-** Nathaly/Ollie **(Creator: Haley's Comet)**

Age: 16

District: 10

Personality: Put in one word... insane. After years of severe physical and mental abuse, Ollie is the last thing from ordinary. She acts very dazed, and says things that don't seem to make any sense to anyone except her. People keep their distance from her because she makes them nervous. Her mind is in ruins, but her heart still beats strong. If someone shows her compassion and understanding, she'll become fiercely loyal and protective. People who question her ability to fight due to her mental stability are gravely mistaken. She's tough, stealthy, and has little room left in herself for remorse.

Appearance: Ollie has dark gray-blue eyes and light, golden hair the color of straw. Petite in size and stature, she reaches a height of 5'1". Ollie has lightly tanned skin and lots of freckles from being out in the sun. She has a natural, rose-petal pink glow in her lips and cheeks; a constant blush. She appears to be the picture of innocence.

Family/Friends: Her mother died at child birth, and her father later suffered from a heat stroke when she was four. She then moved to her aunt and uncle's poultry farm, and was raised by them. They were horrible to her. Her uncle would get drunk and beat her, and her aunt would lock her away in a closet for days. What did the most damage to her is still unclear.

A neighbor named Lisa was Ollie's childhood friend. Lisa was 2 years younger than her, and was the only person who didn't seem to be afraid of Ollie. Lisa knew that Ollie's aunt and uncle were abusive without it ever having to be said, and let Ollie stay over any time she wanted to, or any time she was allowed. At age 14, right before she ran away from her aunt and uncle's farm, she noticed a baby chic that escaped the coop. She was perplexed by how the little thing made it out, but took it as a sign. She scooped up the baby bird and fled, never looking back, and never to see Lisa again. She raised the chic on the streets, and named it Basko. Basko was her only friend for a long time. To keep herself fed, she stole from neighboring farms, and sold chickens to the butcher, who took pity on her. She vowed to never sell Basko to the butcher, no matter how bad things got. Frank, the butcher, later became Ollie's only human friend.

History: Ollie grew up always running; Running from her abusive guardians, running from peacekeepers, running from the pain of being an outcast, and most of all, running from herself. She spent each night curled up on a soft heap of hay from some stranger's barn, always in motion, always hopping from one farm to another. Once she started selling stolen eggs and chickens to the butcher Frank, she finally had someone other than herself and her pet chicken Basko to talk to. Everyone in her part of district 10 was weary of her. They knew she was a thief, and anyone could instantly tell how insane she was. One thing Ollie liked to do for fun was to climb apple trees and throw apples at people walking passed. They would look around furiously, never catching sight of her concealed in the branches. The only thing that would her away was her uncontrollable, manic laughter at the sight of them. The sound would drive most of them away, anyway.

District Token: A pink, pressed, Night-blooming cereus conserved in a small, glass pin. The Night-blooming cereus only blooms one night a year, and her mother received the flower from her father to symbolize their engagement. Her mother pressed the precious flower, and put it in the pin as a keepsake. After her mother passed away, her father gave it to Ollie as a keepsake. It's the only thing she kept from her parents.

Interview Angle: Ollie could never even attempt to be anything but herself.

Strengths: Ollie is a skilled thief, and therefore very stealthy. She's survived on her own by pickpocketing strangers, stealing food from bakeries, and taking chickens from their coops to sell to Frank. She has also had a great deal of experience living off the land, so she knows the basics on edible plants. She can climb fairly well, her light weight being an advantage. She's resourceful and creative. Her biggest strength is her ability to stay hidden, once again, greatly helped by her size. She is easily able to fit into small spaces and is always ready to run like a bat out of hell.

Weaknesses: Being petite also has its disadvantages. For one, she has very little skill in hand-to-hand combat. Her most obvious weakness, however, is how unapproachable she is. People just see her as unpredictable, impulsive, and yes, crazy. Because of this, she drives away most allies and sponsors.

Weapon of Choice: What ever is handy at the time becomes her weapon of choice. She uses all her resources around her to make her weapons and has no need, and no experience with manufactured weaponry.

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: Eh, she'll dabble…

**~Male- **Rydell Coarsley **(Creator: Penelope Wendy Bing)**

Age: 18

Personality: He's a classic bad kid. He skip out on school to smoke and drink, but he meets all his work quotas so the Capitol doesn't do anything. He works out with his thugs of friends, all of whom are just as stupid and nasty as him. They're the sort who make fun of other kids when they're not beating them up. he's tough and nasty. To be honest, a lot of the people in his District were glad he was the boy who got reaped, instead of a nicer kid.

Appearance: Tall and muscular. A snarky smile and unintelligent eyes. He has a very square jaw with beard stubble. His hair is short and choppily cut. It's a dusty blond color.

Family/Friends: His parents, who he never talks to unless it's to insult them. He hangs out with all the other school bullies, but it's not real friendship.

History: Normal. Really, he's had an incredibly boring life up until now.

District Token: An old ball, about baseball size, that he's had since he was a kid.

Interview Angle: Cocky, strong, and a total jerk. Him, really.

Strengths: He's strong and doesn't mind fighting. Killing is just the next step.

Weaknesses: Very stupid, and likely to make a lot of enemies.

Weapon of Choice: Something heavy that requires not too much brain power. Probably a club. If not, a sword, but that requires more skill.

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: His strength as his ability to just destroy stuff.

**Escort: **Gem Stone** (Creator: kc256)**

Age: 27

Appearance: Gem has magenta hair (it's really a wig) that falls to her waist. She also has matching nails that look more like talons. She wears magenta contacts, and thus has a really hard time seeing things. She refuses to have surgery to make any of these things permanent, because she is deathly afraid of needles. She is about 5'4".

Personality: Gem is very bubbly and peppy. She always looks on the bright side of things, and encourages the tributes to do their best. Whether this is because she truly cares for them, or she just wants to get one of the Career districts that have a giant advantage, no one knows.

**Stylist Team: **

Pierce Rider **(Creator: jaimelah)**

Appearance: He has a very haughty look to him; like he knows he's better than  
everyone else. He's very pale and skinny, the skin on his face looks like its  
pulled tight showing off his high cheekbones and his hollow cheeks. He has  
navy blue hair that he always keeps spiked orderly and huge orange eyes.

Personality: He is very bossy and rude at times, but he can also be very warm  
and kind. But, he does have major mood swings, so you never know when he's  
going to be in a good or bad mood.

Team Members: Arcadia- A very bubbly young lady, only eighteen, with long  
golden hair and big violet eyes. Green vine like tattoos encircle her neck,  
arms, and legs. She very petite and small.

Johnny- He's in his mid-twenties and he has blood red curls that are styled to  
perfection with golden tanned skin. He's very tall. He unusually quiet, and you  
can tell he favors Arcadia.

Rosy- She has a cat tail and lightly blue dyed skin with intense silver eyes  
and a big smile. She's very controlling, but always listens to Pierce.

**Mentor: **Erik Bomm **(Creator: Stratagem)**

Appearance: Erik's scarred. Badly, from head to foot on his right side, from his time in the games. He's bald, mainly because he can't grow hair on the right of his head and he thinks it looks funny with only half a head of hair. His eyes are bright blue and his best feature. He prefers simple clothes.

Personality: Although he seems intimidating at first, Erik is a charmer. He can hold a very good conversation and has a great sense of humor. He is also a flirt, though the Capitol girls don't usually go for him because of the scars. He's indomitably cheerful and upbeat and is a coffee addict. When he doesn't get his coffee…yeah, well, you don't want to be there. He's generally friendly, though!

How did they win the games?: After a firestorm nearly burnt down the entire arena, he was the last one left living but barely.

* * *

**District Eleven: (Agriculture)**

Tributes:

**~Female-** Cora Ceres **(Creator: kc256)**

Age: 13

Personality: Cora is usually kind and gentle, but ever since her older sister Fenna got killed in the games, she has never been the same. She still appears sweet on the outside, but on the inside she is hungry for revenge.

Appearance: Cora is quite small, about 5'1", and has short jet black hair about to her chin. She has the usual dark skin of her district, and dark brown eyes that used to sparkle, but now are filled with malice.

Family/Friends: Her parents are Snowdrop and Rhett Ceres. Her sister Fenna was 16 when she died in the games. Cora used to be very popular, but after her sister died she retreated from the world, and everyone shies away from her now, except her best friend Juniper, whose brother died in the same games as Fenna. Juniper has stuck with Cora through all the tough times, and is very loyal.

History: Cora's father used to be the mayor of District 11, but when he tried to stop the Peacekeepers from being so harsh, he got demoted, and is now a regular citizen. He also tried and failed at starting another rebellion, and so the reapings were rigged, Fenna was killed, and Cora is next. Cora is not used to the work in the orchards that she must do now, but she is learning.

District Token: Cora's token is the same that Fenna took into her games; a bracelet woven out of different grasses native to District 11.

Interview Angle: Sweet and cute.

Strengths: She is very fierce, and a swift runner. In the orchards, she learned to scamper up a tree, although she is not as good as, say, Rue. She will be heartless in the games, and feels that if she needs to kill someone to avenge her sister, she will. She is good at using resources around her to her advantage, like a jagged rock, or a pointed stick.

Weaknesses: She is not really familiar with any particular weapon, and in hand-to-hand combat she will most certainly be squished. She also cannot swim or survive in the wild, as she is used to a soft life.

Weapon of Choice: She doesn't really have one, but if she had to choose, a dagger might be the easiest for her to maneuver.

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: She isn't sure what she will do yet, but it is sure to be impulsive, and unique.

**~Male-** Jake Rayez **(Creator: CloudNK)**

Age: 17

Personality: Jake is a sweet guy who pretends to be all tough and macho around  
his friends. He dislikes having to pretend to be some he isn't. He misses when he  
was young and things were simpler

Appearance: Jake has tanned skin, like most people in District 11, and pitch  
black hair that he keeps in a sloppy crew cut so it doesn't cause him any  
problems. He's tall, maybe 5'11", and very well-muscled from rigorously work  
in the grain fields cutting wheat, rye, and barley.

Family/Friends: Zia Rayez-(Sister) Xia has been more of a mother to him than  
his own mother. That is, if mothers were flirty teenagers—then she'd be perfect. Zia is  
very popular and always the center of attention.

Clemintine Rayez-(Mother) She's depressed because of her husband's death; very  
aloof and detached.

Barley Clinton-(Friend) he's another popular boy.

History: When Jake was three his father was shot by peacekeepers.

District Token: A simple silver necklace with a "Z" and an "11" to remind him  
of his family. It was a gift from Zia.

Interview Angle: Determined

Strengths: Jake knows everything there is to know about plants from poisons to  
medicine. He can identify if a plant is safe to eat. Jake is very strong and  
determined to get home to his sister. Good with a scythe.

Weaknesses: Jake cannot swim whatsoever, or build fires. He hates killing,  
whether it's animals or people. He hates it.

Weapon of Choice: Scythe

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: He throws a few  
knives but doesn't try to make a big impression.

**Escort: **McKenzie Blue **(Creator: CloudyNK)**

Age: 25

District: 11

Appearance: She has gone overboard with the surgery even by Capitol standards.  
Her hair is a bright blue and tipped with purple and pink; she looks like her  
hair is cotton candy. Her skin, like her last name, is bright blue and there are even  
purple stripes. Short maybe 5'1". Her eyes are purple and blue striped.

Personality: She is insane! But in a funny way!

**Stylist Team: ****(Creator: CloudyNK)**

Head Stylist Name: Cherry Blossom

Appearance: She is normal looking by Capitol standards. Her hair is cherry red  
and is cut in bob. Her skin is fair and natural. She has pale hazel eyes.  
5'6".

Personality: She's critical and very judgmental.

Team Members: Fawna Meadows, Zen Morningglory, and Blaze Manson.

**Mentor: **Parsley Mays** (Creator: CloudyNK)**

Appearance: She is young and strong. Her dark brown hair is waist length and  
very wispy. She has dark skin and brown eyes.

Personality: She quiet and very restrained. When she talks it's usually wise  
to listen

How did they win the games?: She won when mutts attacked because she was the  
best at climbing and finding her own food.

* * *

**District Twelve: (Coal)**

Tributes:

**~Female- **Eden Thorn **(Creator: XxXHappyGirlXxX)**

Age: 15

Personality: Eden is very upbeat, bubbly, outgoing and tries to 'find the up side' of the situation. She is sarcastic and spunky, but is honest; she will tell you if she likes you or not, and after that, she rarely ever changes her mind.

Appearance: Eden has wavy auburn-brown hair that falls down to her elbows. She is petite; only 5'3", and she has big blue eyes framed by long eyelashes.

Family/Friends:

Damian- Her twin. He means everything to her. They are all each other have.

Isbel Jenson- Eden's best friend.

Jakob- Damian's best friend that has a crush on Eden.

Roselind (Rose)- Damian's girlfriend who is like a sister to Eden.

History: Eden's parents died when she was 12. Ever since, it's been her, Damian, Isbel, Jakob and Rose living together on the streets.

District Token: A heart shaped diamond pendant from her dad.

Interview Angle: A spunky, sassy chicka.

Strengths: She is a fast runner and a good hunter from living on the streets. She can illegally hunts, so she can use a bow and arrow pretty well. She can also tell good plants from poisonous plants.

Weaknesses: She is not very strong and can't use a weapon bigger that a hunting knife.

Weapon of Choice: Bow and arrow or a small knife.

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: Target practice.

**~Male- **Damian Thorn. **(Creator: XxXHappyGirlXxX)**

Age: 15

Personality: Damian is the exact opposite of his sister. His is very unhappy and has a sense of danger about him.. He's nice and loyal to the people he trusts, but he has a hard time trusting people.

Appearance: He has the same auburn hair as Eden, but his is cut short and spiky. He has dark blue eyes and us very tall, 6'8".

Family/Friends: Same as Eden.

History: When he and Eden were fourteen, they were caught hunting illegally and where whipped in front of the whole district. They both still have multiple scars all of their bodies.

District Token: A locket from Rose.

Interview Angle: Dangerous.

Strengths: He is strong and good with big weapons.

Weaknesses: He can't use small knives and has a hard time hiding because of his height.

Weapon of Choice: A sword.

What skill does your tribute plan to show the game makers?: Lifts some weights and swordplay.

**Escort: **Kisa Blodgen **(Creator: Penelope Wendy Bing)**

Age: 28

Appearance: She has skin that's been altered to be white. Like, white. Not pale, but the color of snow. Her hair is long and dark seaweed green. Her eyes are a strange electric blue with small silver rhinestones surgically inserted in a ring around the iris. She's bony thin.

Personality: She's optimistic and emotive. It's her first year as an escort, so she doesn't mind at all being assigned to District 12. She loves the Games, and for the life of her can't see why the Districts don't. She doesn't understand why the tributes are angry, or why they don't want to be her friend. She's innocent and brainwashed, and she just doesn't understand.

**Stylist Team:** **(Creator: Comet Crossover)**

Head Stylist Name: Margo

Appearance: Margo is a young looking woman with black tattoos covering her pale skin. She has deep red hair that's weaved to her scalp at both sides of her head until it turns into a Mohawk on top, extending 8 inches from her head.

Personality: Everything about her is edgy: Her appearance, her attitude, her art, and her team.

Team Members: The rest of Margo's team consists of Brent, Caz, and Lux. Margo frequently forgets her own teammates names, never paying them that much notice, but the team never lets it bother them. They adore Margo regardless for her brilliance. All three of them wear all black, keep fairly clean skin, save for some colored eyeliner, and work in perfect unison.

**Mentor: **Phillip Patterson** (Creator: XxXHappyGirlXxX)**

Appearance: He is tall, with spikey blonde hair and green eyes. He's pretty thin, but has huge muscles.

Personality: He's nice, but he can be too nice at times. He doesn't like hurting other people's feelings.

How did they win the games?: He hid in trees and infiltrated other people's camps, filling them with poisness plants.


	4. Arenas Open to Vote!

Before I say anything else, I want to thank you all so much for sending in all your characters. I loved reading about all of them, and I'm excited to have all of them all in the Games.

Alright, guys. We only have two tributes left for the picking, along with two escorts, and two mentors. Once we fill the positions, I'll post the first chapter of this story—the reaping of district one. It's all ready to go! Anyway, I wanted to post all of the potential arenas I have received, and open them all up to a vote. I would prefer you to private message me to cast your vote, wishing to keep this anonymous. Keep in mind that these are all the arenas I have received _so far_, and that if you still want to send in arena ideas, you are free to do so at this time.

* * *

**Arenas:**

1. This arena consists of swampy marshes, much like the everglades. In this bizarre forest you can find all kinds of dangerous animals, poisonous plants, and venomous insects. The outer layer of the arena would be the Hardwood Hammocks, which are shady, moist, islands of trees. In this area you can find foxes, turtles, raccoons, snakes, and frogs. One small area of this huge arena would be the Mangroves. The Mangrove swamp consists of many exotic trees and plants, deer, crocodiles, and manatees. The most dangers part of this arena is in the very center, where the cornucopia is. A Crocodile infested swamp surrounds it. **(Created By: Haley's Comet)~1 Vote  
**

2. This arena is a desert wasteland. The only water source is at the cornucopia, driving the tributes together. There are fake streams all around the arena to tempt you, and make you even more thirsty. It's unbearably hot during the day, and the harsh sun could do damage to the skin of anyone who doesn't protect it. There are dangerous animals in this arena such as poisonous snakes, spiders, and scorpions. There are also foxes, Owls, and various reptiles. **(Created By: XxXHappyGirlXxX)**

3. The Arena is a jungle/rainforest with persistently terrible and unpredictable weather. Because of the constant moisture, tributes need to be able to create a stable shelter, or they could get sick. There are billions of bugs that only go away when it rains. The bugs take big bites out of their flesh. There is quick sand and, lots of other stuff like that… Ext, ext… **(Created By: CloudyNK)**

4. An underground system of tunnels, like a labyrinth. The tunnels are very confusing, and the Cornucopia is above ground. **(Created By: CloudyNK)~4 Votes  
**

5. Islands that float in the sky complete with dragons and cave houses. **(Created By: CloudyNK)~1 Vote  
**

6. An underwater city (Atlantis!) with sharks, limited air supply, and poisonous fish! **(Created By: CloudyNK)~1 Vote  
**

7. A huge forest that has a variety of animals— but not all are edible. **(Created By: XxXHappyGirlXxX)**

**

* * *

**

**If you sent in an arena idea, and it isn't on this list, send me a message. With all the sifting I had to do to find these submissions, I may have missed something.**


	5. The Reaping: District One

**The Reaping:**

Now that we have filled all of our positions, the reaping will begin. Keep in mind that the even though all the spots are now filled, you can still submit arenas and game maker tricks for sponsor points.

Before we start the 45th Hunger games, I would like to go over a few things. First, I want to state the obvious. Characters will die in these games. I know that sounds senseless to announce, but don't be surprised if a character you spent a long time developing gets bumped off on the first day in the arena. This, by no means, determines that I disliked your character. It shouldn't be taken personally; it just means that I'm trying to make these games as realistic as possible. Hopefully by that time you'll get attached to another character you wish to continue sponsoring.

Also, keep in mind that even great fighters die in the games. Your character might be built like a truck, but that doesn't necessarily protect him from getting a knife in his back.

Next, I want to make it clear that even though most of these tributes will die, they will never be overlooked. I will make a sincere effort to write each character's story to the best of my ability.

Now… The reaping begins!

* * *

District One-

_**Thalia Hanson:**_

I smooth the skirt of my dress down against my thighs, trying desperately to erase any hints of wrinkles. I take in my appearance at the full-length mirror in in front of me. The mirror is some-what tarnished, and has a long crack down the side of it, making it a little disorienting. It was a miracle my dad could even afford it. He doesn't make much money, being a baker and all, but he's always willing to appease my every whim. I remember asking for this mirror when I was eleven, but we couldn't afford it. My father saved up the money and got it for my thirteenth birthday, but by that time I didn't even really care about it anymore.

As I hold my own casual gaze in the mirror, I braid my long, silky blond hair down the back of my neck. My reaping dress is the same as last year, which annoys me slightly. It's an exquisite shade of canary yellow, and just as silky-soft as the day I got it. _Last year._ I have enough to deal with when it comes to rich snobs in District One. They never fail to point out the financial differences between them and myself, as if this is supposed to degrade me. In reality, I know that they're intimidated by me, and that they're just trying to bring me down a peg. They're merely jealous of what they can never be.

Just as I begin tying a ribbon to the end of my braid, I hear a knock at my bedroom door. "Come in," I invite nonchalantly. I hear the door open and close behind me, and I turn to see Suzie Johnson standing in the door frame.

Suzie is my neighbor, and was something like a nanny to me growing up. After my mother died, my father was a wreck. He didn't know whether or not he could take care of me on his own—and that's when Suzie stepped in. She brought me over to her house when my father needed some grieving room, and she watched over me when he was working. I loathe the bakery, so spending more time with Suzie was preferable. She can be strict sometimes, but I honestly believe she cares for me. In fact, she may qualify as my only true friend.

Even though I'm old enough to take care of myself now, and I spend most of my time in the training center anyway, I still see plenty of Suzie. I find this comforting, like she's the closest thing I have to a mother. This doesn't completely fill the void of losing my real mom when I was a baby, not even old enough to remember who she was. My father doesn't talk about her very often—too painful, I suppose. But still, I let my imagination wander. In my mind, she looks nearly identical to me. She's gorgeous, poised, and magnificently elegant. I cling to ever fact I learn about her, and carry it with me.

As I grab Suzie's hand to pull her into my room, she entwines her fingers with mine reassuringly, as if I'm nervous for the games. That couldn't be further from the truth, but I don't tell her that. She'd be horrified to learn that I train every day not out of fear, but out of excitement. I know that I would have a damn good chance at winning the games, if it came down to it. Shaking the thought from my mind, I pat my hand on my mattress, inviting Suzie to sit down. She obliges.

"Your father wanted to make sure that you had this," She informs me, setting a small cardboard box on my bed.

"Oh, wonderful," I say sarcastically, having no idea what it is. "It'll go great with my earrings."

She chuckles lightly, rolling her eyes. I take in a deep sigh before grabbing the box. When I open it, I see a beautiful golden ring with diamonds half way around it—my mother's engagement ring. I let the useless cardboard box fall to the ground. "Oh," I say in awe, holding it up the light. "He really wants me to take this?"

"It's all yours," Suzie replies with a smile. "You're 16 now, and he wanted you to have it for your birthday, but I think he had a hard time parting with it. And now that it's reaping day—" She suddenly goes silent.

Now that it's reaping day, I may not be around to take it for my next birthday. I know that's what she was thinking, but I keep it to myself, deciding not to make her feel uncomfortable. "So—I guess we better get down to town square. Where's my father?"

"At the bakery. I guess he had a little trouble down there, but he said that he'll meet us at the square." Suzie replies. I nod, and give myself another once-over. My hair is naturally wavy, and the glossy blond goes perfectly with my outfit. The yellow dress has a tight, laced bodice and flows out from my waist, reaching my knees. It's the kind of dress that automatically makes you want to start twirling—if you're anyone but me. The dress isn't exactly me, but it's nice enough. It's just a little girlish for my taste.

_**Johnathon Daae:**_

_Smack!_ Something hits me on the back of the head, causing me to fall to my knees. I roll over onto my side to see a shoe beside me, which is the assumed weapon. "Stay the hell away from my shop, boy! You're lucky your parents don't lock you up!" I quickly jump to my feet, and turn to the man screaming at me from across the street. It's Mr. Hanson. I tried to set fire to his bakery from the dumpster behind his store this morning. He's so mad, it looks like he's actually spitting at me, regardless to the distance.

He's making quite a scene; curious townsfolk are stopping to stare. I just smile. "What's that Mr. Hanson?" I called over, cupping my ear as if I couldn't hear him. He continues to cuss at me and I just shrug, gesturing towards my ears. "I. Can't. Hear. You," I yell. Finally he just turns around and goes back into the bakery, slamming the door shut behind him. I give a salute, and burst out laughing, bringing on a few dirty looks from the crowd.

I don't care about them, though. I don't care about anyone. Mr. Hanson can say whatever he wants to me, as can the rest of the town, and they'd probably be right. My parents _should_ lock me up. If they had, my ten-year-old brother wouldn't have been burned. If they had, my two little sisters wouldn't have twelve extra slips from tesserae in their name—entirely for my own amusement. I paid for that one, though. When my father found out, he punched me right in the face. To be fair, I did provoke him, as I always do. But I'm not sorry. I'm not sorry about anything—ever.

_**Thalia Hanson:**_

Later on, once we get to the square, I realize how difficult it will be to find my dad. District One is fairly large, so the space fills up pretty quickly. I decide that a search is useless and I'm short of time, so join the other girls in my age group. Besides, even if I do find him, I'll only be able to talk to him for a few minutes before I'm shepherded in with the rest of the herd anyway. Cattle—that's all we are. Cattle being prepared for slaughter. That's why, if I'm picked, I'll be ready.

In mere minutes, the mayor approaches the microphone on the podium. Sitting behind him is our escort from the capital, and next to her is Adriana Keels. Adrianna was the victor from District One last year, and will be the mentor to anyone picked today. She's a definite improvement from our previous mentor, and how she won with such insufficient help is a mystery.

The mayor's gruff boring voice fills the square. He's reciting the history of Panem, which all of us have heard many times. All I heard was, "North America—_blah, blah_—droughts and storms—_blah, blah_—brutal war—_blah, blah_" It all gets pretty old. The thing that annoys me most is that most of the potential tributes are hanging off his every word. It's the same spiel he _always_ gives, and yet we're always expected to find it just as enthralling as previous year? Yeah, right.

_**Johnathon Daae:**_

I spend my day as I always do—walking aimlessly around town, trying to see if I can start some trouble. If I have one regret, it's that I burned down the training center five years back. They rebuilt it of course, but I'm still banned from ever returning. A few other fighters and I used to form sparring groups. It was a good way to work off a little energy. I suppose in that way, beating the living hell out of some poor sucker who thought he could beat me was therapeutic. It's better than taking out my aggression on poor, helpless, bakers like Mr. Hanson. Or so I'm told.

I'm walking down the street when I feel an arm on my shoulder. I spin around to see a peacekeeper gripping me tightly, knowing that I'll try to escape him. "You need to be down at the square. Now."

I check my watch, and realize that the reaping had already started a little while ago. Instead of submitting to the peacekeeper, I pull away defiantly. "I'll go when I'm good and ready." The peace keeper smiles, as if he were waiting for me to say that. I'm well acquainted with most of the peace keepers in this district, but not for any of the right reasons. This Neanderthal is named Darrell, and I know him to be all talk.

He goes to grab my arms, but I quickly spin around, elbowing him in the mouth. Blood trickles down his face from his lips, and I know I've made I deadly mistake. You never strike a peacekeeper. You just don't do it. As much power as I have over some of the citizens here in District One, starting a fight with a peacekeeper is beyond stupid. I may give him hell sometimes, but that's the extent of it. Darrell looks at me with an astonished expression, apparently just as surprised that I hit him as I am. Suddenly, I had two peacekeepers on either side of me, restraining my arms. "You're coming with us," One of them growled.

"No," demands Darrell. "We're bringing him to the square."

The other men are hesitant, but they follow Darrell's orders. I don't have to wonder why he spared me—because he didn't. Not really. He doesn't just want me in trouble, he wants me dead. He wants me reaped. If I'm not picked, I know there will be hell to pay after the reaping is finished.

_**Thalia Hanson:**_

Once the mayor is finally through with boring me to tears, our escort replaces him on the stage—Jennette Harold. Jen's bubbly personality and bouncy strawberry blonde hair is enough to make me want to vomit. _Nobody_ is that happy, so why put on a show? Anyway, she rattles on about the honor of being chosen, and then ends with the annual, "And may the odds be _ever _in your favor!" At least she keeps things a lot more brief than our ancient mayor.

"Ladies first!" She hollers, and I finally allow myself to get anxious. Two glass balls sit on either side of her. I bite my nails as I think about the five slips of paper that have my name on them. Five measly slips out of thousands. I don't know if that means that the odds are in my favor or not, because when Jennette Harold calls the name of the tribute to represent the girl of district one, my heart stops. _Thalia Hanson._ It's _me._

I carefully make my way to the stage, feeling scared, but strangely empowered. For most people, the reaping is a death sentence, but for me it's an honor. I've been training my whole life for this—so why should I be afraid?

_**Johnathon Daae:**_

By the time the peacekeepers get me to the square, I see that the first tribute has already been selected. Darrell shoves me in with my age group of boys just in time for me to get a closer look. It's Thalia Hanson—a damn good coincidence seeing as her father just threw a shoe at my head. Well, there could be worse people in this district to be given a death sentence. I hate everyone in this district, including Thalia, but at least she had some fire in her that I could admire. She's not even crying as she climbs up onto the stage. Nobody offers to take her place in the arena, but I'm not surprised. She's a worthless girl without a single friend to speak of. It's true that I don't have any friends either, but I'm different than Thalia. I have people in this district that will take my place out of _fear. _Thalia has no control over anybody but herself, and even that is questionable.

After congratulating Thalia, and then granting her a seat on the stage, Jen Harold calls for applause. This is always an awkward gesture, but the citizens of District One clap, nonetheless. Next, Jen says, "Alright, now that's enough. Because it's now time to choose our boy tribute!" She buries her hand into the glass bowl with the boys' names, and draws one out. She looks at it for a long time, a pause for dramatic effect, I assume. "And our next tribute for the 45th Hunger Games is—Johnathon Daae!"

There is complete silence. Everyone is wondering if they heard her right, me included. After I allow myself a few minutes for it to sink in, I smile, taking the stage. I gratefully accept the seat Jennette offers me, knowing what's to come. She asks, "Now that we have this bright and smiling young man on the stage, is there anyone wanting to take his place? Any volunteers seeking glory?" There's more silence, wiping the smile off my face. Tony, from the training center, was supposed to volunteer for me—we had a deal. Sure, I loved the Games, but I didn't actually want to take part in them. Not when I'd much rather see some other useless kid be slaughtered on my behalf. When I realize that I have been deceived, I search for Tony in the crowd. I find his eyes, and stare him down menacingly. My glare is a promise that if I make it back, he'll be sorry.

Suddenly, the silence is broken. A man in the back row hollers, "Well, good riddance!" And a few dozen people snicker in agreement. I look around the square to find that even my parents seem pleased, if not a little uncomfortable. It's a great betrayal, but I can't say that I'm surprised.

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**And now the first round of the reaping is finished! This is the length of each District's reaping chapter you can expect. I hope you enjoyed it! Check back for district two!**


	6. The Reaping: District Two

**The Reaping:**

Thank you for the positive feedback on my first chapter. I'm going to try to be posting at least one chapter a day, and I really hope you'll all hold me to that. If I ever slip up and start getting lazy, remind me of my promise! I need to be under pressure! I don't think it will be a problem though, because I have great ideas for all of your characters. I just can't wait to bring them into the arena.

Okay, I want to clarify one thing before you read this chapter. Ashkia has a best friend named Apollo. The male tribute from District two is named Apollo. These _are not_ the same people. They just have the _same name._

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District Two:

_**Ashkia Anderdean-**_

"Adara!" I yell frantically, careening through District Two shops. "Adara, where are you?" Some passersby give me questionable looks, but the majority of people just mind their own business. Most of the town is familiar with Adara's story, and why she's probably gone missing.

Adara is my best friend, and is not exactly—stable. Especially when it comes to the Games. Adara was reaped last year, but her older sister took her place. She died in the final three. Adara was traumatized by having to watch her own sister be decapitated on live television, knowing that it should have been her. She's never been the same after that, and a part of me knows that she never will be.

"Over here!" I hear someone yell a short distance away. But it's not Adara. It's Atami. I rush to the voice, shoving people out of my way. The innocents protest, hollering curses at me, but I don't care. Once I reach Atami, I see that he is crouched beside Adara, who is huddled up behind a dumpster. "Oh, Adara" I sigh, kneeling beside her. "You don't have to be afraid."

She glares up at me, and I know I've said the wrong thing. "I—don't have to—to—" She's angry, but I put my fingers on her lips, shushing her.

"You can be upset, and you can be furious—but you don't have to be afraid. You were reaped last year, and it's not going to happen again." I wrap my arms around her, and she hesitates. After a few seconds, she returns my embrace, sobbing into my shoulder. I stroke her hair soothingly, desperate to calm her down.

Atami gives me a sad smile, and then says, "I'll go find Apollo and bring him here. Then we're going to have to get going. The reaping will start soon."

_**Apollo Jackson-**_

"Are you okay?" Someone asks from behind me, causing me to start. I turn so see my sister Jesmina staring back at me apprehensively. I scoff at her pointedly.

"Am _I_ okay?" I ask in disbelief. Our father has found out about his illness only a couple months ago, and she's asking _me_ how _I_ am? She should save her pity for him—if not my mother. She has had to pick up the slack now that our father is too sick go back to him job. She's been nearly working herself to death.

"You just seem—quiet, I guess," I roll my eyes at her, and then take a seat on my bed. Obviously I've been quiet. What does she expect of me? That I'll be all sunshine and rainbows? That I'll cry, perhaps? She'll be waiting a long time for that reaction. "Are you worried about the reaping?" She asks me. This question surprises me.

"What makes you think I'm worried about the reaping? I've never been before." I respond. It's true. Most District Two children who are raised like me don't worry about the reaping very much. I've been training for as long as I can remember. But Jesmina is right about one thing. This year's reaping has affected me differently than the last, but not for the reasons she would suspect.

"I don't know," Jesmina replied. She scowls before sitting down next to me. I know she hates my room. She's always disgusted by how messy I keep it. "You've just been acting differently. Today, especially. So—I just assumed you were worried about being reaped."

I take in a deep sigh, and then fall down onto my back. "No, Jesmina. I'm more worried that I _won't_ get reaped." There's no use hiding my anxiety from Jesmina. She is my twin, after all. She can read me like a book whether I like it or not.

She leans over me so she can stare quizzically into my eyes. "Won't get reaped? But why?" She asks, even though she already knows the answer. "Oh, Apollo…"

I don't need to explain, because it makes perfect sense to her. I want to be in the Games—need to be in the Games, rather—for our father. I know that I have a damn good chance at winning, and if I do, I'll have enough money to take care of him. There's nothing I can do for him here in District Two. I need to bring him straight to the Capitol where he can receive necessary treatment. And the worst thing about our situation is that our factories in District Two produce medicine. Only, none of it is for us. It all goes strictly to the Capitol. Even if it didn't, my family would never be able to afford Capitol prices these days.

So, yes, I want to be picked. I want to be thrown into battle with a bunch of other scared children. I'll do whatever—kill _who_ever—to save my family.

_**Ashkia Anderdean-**_

By the time Atami arrives with Apollo, Adara is practically in my lap, still crying. I haven't seen her like this in months, but I really should have realized that today would be especially hard for her. She's become so fragile, and all I want to do shield her from any more pain. I can't endure the thought of her being so miserable when all I want to do is protect her.

"Ashkia—" Apollo begins, looking down at us sympathetically.

"I know," I interrupt, understanding what he's thinking. We need to leave now in order to get the Square on time. "I know," I repeat, this time more soothingly in an attempt to comfort my broken best friend. Atami offers me a hand, and I accept. I pull myself up, Adara along with me. She continues to cling to me like a lost child. I turn her around so she's facing me. "We all have to go to the Square, but only if _you're_ ready,"

Apollo shoots Atami a glace that I choose to ignore. I know how to communicate with Adara more than they could ever hope to. When I say _"but only if _you're_ ready", _I'm really just letting her know that I would never push her either way. She likes to have control over her own decisions, and I never make the mistake of taking that away from her. I know that she'll come with us. She knows that I won't leave without her—risking public execution. And so, like I knew she would, Adara wipes the tears from her face and takes my hand, waiting for me to lead the way.

The four of us walk in silence to the square. There's nothing any of us could say that would make this situation any better. It isn't until now that I realize that I never even changed into my reaping outfit. I was too busy searching for Adara to even care. I picked out my reaping dress just a few weeks back. It's an old dress of my mother's, absolutely beautiful, just like her. I finally developed the womanly curves for the dark red silk. It's one of the only things that I have left of my mother, along with her engagement ring. The only reason the dress survived the fire was because it was being altered by our seamstress at the time. After our parents died that night, my brother and I barely got by.

Once we get to the square, I turn to Atami. "Happy Reaping Day," he says, with a hint of irony. Atami is now 19, and too old to participate in the reaping. He never fails to brag about it any other day, but I suppose now it would be tasteless. I give Atami a quick hug before turning to Apollo.

Apollo has a hard time keeping the anxiety off of his face. He's not exactly a fighter. Unlike most District Two folk, he has had very little training. He would, without a doubt, die in the arena. "Good luck," I say, giving him a hug too.

"Good luck," He reciprocates. When he draws back, I smile at them both one more time before we separate. Adara and I join the rest of the girls in our age group.

By the time the reaping begins, Adara reaches for my hand again. I turn to her and smile before giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. I don't listen as the mayor makes a speech about the history on Panem. I don't listen as they introduce last year's victor, Claude Eskos. All I can think is 'please don't let it be me, please don't let it be me, _please_ don't let it be _me._' Not even just for my own sake, but for Adara's. I don't know how she would deal with another loss like this.

Finally, as Gretchen Franks takes the stage, I snap out of my reverie. The escort's speech is never particularly long, so I know that I'll soon know my fate. Gretchen babbles on a while, but finally announces, "And now, we shall pick our first tribute, starting with the ladies." She dunks her hand into a bowl containing thousands of slips of paper. When she opens it to read, I hold my breath. "Ashika Anderdean!—Or, Ash_kia_ Anderdean, rather. Sorry!"

Somehow the fact that she pronounces my name wrong makes this all more real. I've been having people do that to me all my life, in school. And so, I robotically begin to move towards the stage. A few tears roll down my cheeks, but I quickly wipe them away, trying to keep my face even. It doesn't help that Adara won't let go of my hand. "No!" She yells, pulling me back. "No!" She repeats, bursting into tears. I'm in danger of crying myself, so I don't look at her. "You can't go! You can't! I will—" For one frightful moment, I think she might try to volunteer for me. I quickly turn around to see my brother, holding a hand over Adara's mouth. I give him a sad smile of thanks, then turn to make my way up the stage.

_**Apollo Jackson-**_

After the girl tribute is called, I feel a pang of sympathy. _Ashkia Anderdean._ She's already had to deal with too much, ever since the fire took her family away. I don't know Ashkia very well, but she always seemed nice enough. My best friend Hector used to have an enormous crush on her, but the way he says it, she likes to play games. She loves to mess with boys minds. "She's a tease," Hector informed me.

But regardless to what my best friend may think about her, I know she doesn't deserve this. Most of all, her best friend Adara doesn't deserve it. It breaks everyone's heart to see her crying over Ashkia, begging her not to go. The whole District knows Adara's story with her sister being killed in the Games last year, and now she has to see Ashkia go through it too. But who knows, maybe she'll win. I've seen her at the training center, and she's pretty impressive.

After announcing Ashkia as the girl tribute, and sitting her down next to Claude, Gretchen yells, "Next, we will select the boy tribute to represent District Two!" She pulls out a paper slip from the large, glass bowl. "And—will Apollo Jackson please take the stage!" I take in a deep breath, grit my teeth, and make my way towards our escort. I can hear my little sister Diamond crying out in the distance. I have no problem appearing expressionless. After all, this is what I wanted.

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**Hope you enjoyed the second installment of the reaping! Let me know, and remember to keep checking back!**


	7. The Reaping: District Three

**The Reaping:**

I'm actually very surprised with myself that I'm updating daily. Just barely, seeing as I usually post new chapters in the middle of the night, but who cares? Anyway, I'm really excited to have you all reading along.

Thank you for all the reviews!

**P.S:** I love you too, Sarah Willy!

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District Three:

_**Iella Callister-**_

_Never walk alone. Never again. _That is what Asha told me when we first met. Years ago, after my brother Bryll and I escaped our abusive parents, we ran into some trouble. Byrll and I barely got by, never knowing where we would be sleeping, or if we would have full bellies that day. One night, I left my brother in an old tavern while I went out. The owner kept him safe so I could go find us some food, since it's pretty challenging when you have a toddler following you around.

District Three is a very large district, covering the bottom of what used to be called the Rocky Mountains. It's filled with villages—some safer than others. I learned this the hard way when I went out, scavenging for food. I was digging through the trash in a lonely ally way when I heard footsteps closing in on me. Thinking it was the shopkeeper, I grabbed what I could from the garbage and started to run. A man grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him, causing all of my pickings to fall to the ground. He steadied me, and spoke in a quiet, ironically friendly voice. "What are you doing, digging through the trash? What could make a young girl, such as yourself, so desperate?" I remained silent, feeling shameful. The man pushed a loose strand of hair back behind my ear, and leaned in to whisper, "I wonder what else you would do with that desperation."

I was only twelve at the time, but I know what the man wanted, and he sure as hell wasn't getting it from me. "Stop," I ordered. When he wouldn't pull away, I slammed him hard in the chest, causing him to reel back a little. He only laughed, advancing on me again. Then, I gave him a good, hard, slap. The kind makes your neck snap to the side, creating a loud, satisfying '_SMACK!_'. He slowly turned his face back to face me, looking furious. "That was really stupid," He said bluntly.

I closed my eyes as he pushed me against the building, and I continued to punch, scratch, and bite every part of him I could. All of a sudden, warm liquid splattered me in the face. I opened my eyes to the man with blood trickling down his chin. He fell to the ground with a knife in his back. My first instinct was to run, but it was like my feet were glued to the floor. I then heard a voice, coming out from the shadows.

"You have a fighter's instinct," Suddenly, a woman about seven years older than me revealed herself from her haven of darkness. I later learned that this woman's name was Ezra, and she was a leader of an all-girl gang. I took a few steps back from her as she approached me, but then I realized she wasn't alone. She had a younger girl trained at her side. Asha. "We could use that."

At first, I was frightened, wiping the man's blood from my face with disgust. But somehow, Asha's reassuring smile kept me calm. "Use it for what?" I asked.

Ezra ignored my question, and asked one of her own. "How long has it been since you ate?" I shrugged, and they both smiled at me sympathetically. Asha went digging through her pockets, and pulled out something wrapped in fine paper. She unwrapped it before handing it to me. It was a slightly melted wedge of cheese. I quickly snatched it away from her hands and devoured it instantly, feeling guilty that I didn't save some for Bryll. "How long do you think you can survive on your own—on the street, no less."

A lump formed in the back of my throat from swallowing the cheese too quickly, so I hesitated in my response. "I don't—" I stopped to clear my throat, sputtering a bit. "—have any other options,"

"There are always options," Ezra replied firmly. She went into her own pockets and dug out an apple. She handed it to me and I gratefully stashed it away, saving it for Bryll and me to share. "We have a place that you can stay. It's an abandoned warehouse full of girls, but we have open beds. You'll have food to eat, if you're willing to help out. We're like a family. You'll have our backs, and we'll have yours."

I frowned as I looked down at my apple, sudden feeling like there were strings attached to it. "What does that mean?" I asked.

Asha stepped forward, speaking for the first time. "It means that you'll _never walk alone. Never again_."

Maybe if I followed that advice, I wouldn't be in such a mess now, almost five years later.

_**Knox Brigg-**_

_Clang, Clang, Clang. _The sound of metal on metal fills my workshop, as it does on any other Sunday morning. _Clang, Clang, Clang._ This work is the only thing that can clear my mind. _Clang, Clang, Clang._ It's the only—_clang_—thing—_clang_—that keeps me out of trouble. Wielding is not only my job, it's not only my distraction, but it's my calling. _Clang, Clang, Clang._

I wasn't always like this—throwing myself into work to release turmoil. I used to find more dangerous way to let off steam. Fighting, for example, used to be my greatest pastime. After working out some, I developed a bit of an ego. This caused all sorts of trouble between me and my best friend Sinna Lyx. She got pretty tired of me beating on _lesser_ kids. Eventually, when one of those kids ended up being her twin brother Rhodey Jax, she completely lost it. That's the only fight I can remember us ever having. It ended with her giving me an ultimatum. I had to quit the big bully routine. It was either that, or lose her completely. And of course, I chose Sinna Lynx. I would do anything for her.

I've known Sinna for quite a while now, and I guess you could say that she was my only true friend for a long time. Most of our class was filled with kids who either didn't like me, or were afraid of me. I guess Sinna saw something inside me that nobody else could—something _I _didn't even know was there. When she first sat down next to me at lunch, I ignored her, thinking it was a joke. Then she started talking. Nothing important, or particularly interesting; our history teacher, the weather, the factories—she chatted through the whole lunch period. Finally, when the bell rang and she stared to stand up to dump her tray, I grabbed her wrist. "Why are you talking to me?" I asked. She just shrugged, and walked off to her next class. She sat with me every day since.

Her brother Rhodey and I had a little trouble warming up to each other, but Sinna insisted that we try to get along. It was awkward for a while, because we didn't have anything to talk about. That was before I learned that he liked wielding too, which finally gave us something to bond over. I showed him my small workspace, and we became fast friends after that. The three of us—Rhodey, Sinna, and I—became inseparable. Now that I have friends, I don't know what I'd do without them. I'd be lonelier than I ever care to admit.

_**Iella Callister-**_

"Just what in_ hell_ were you thinking, Iella?" Asha demands, fussing over me as I'm carried into the warehouse by two other girls. My life has changed so much—I'm no longer the helpless twelve year old girl I was when I joined the gang. For starters, I'm lieutenant now, seeing as Asha took over as leader. Ezra was killed a few years after I joined up.

"Nothing," I reply simply, holding a towel to my injury. It nearly bleeds through, but I don't have much strength at the moment to put enough pressure on it. Once the girls lay me down on a table, one of them presses down on it forcefully, causing me to wince.

"Nothing, hmm?" Asha asks, raising her voice in fury. "Well that's damn well obvious. Why did you go out by yourself?"

I sighed impatiently, just wishing I would go unconscious. "I went on a walk. It was nothing. I was clearing my head."

"You ended up three blocks away from the center of operations of another gang! One that, to say the least, _doesn't like us_ _very much_!" She's screaming by now, causing some more girls to come around to see what's going on. "You're lucky you're not _dead,"_

Regardless to the fact that the flesh over my stomach is sliced open, Asha won't give it a rest. There is no point arguing with her, but ignoring her is equally dangerous. "I know, I'm sorry. I really just got distracted. I was lost in thought. I didn't know where I was until it was too late."

She calms down a bit, but I know she's still pissed. "Well, next time you're on one of your little soul-searching missions, take one of us with you. Got it?" I nod immediately, and she sits down beside me. She scowls down at my wound, but doesn't say anything more about it. She just replaces the towels. The bleeding has slowed down a lot, and I know what a terminal injury looks like, and this is not it. Still, it hurts like hell. It wasn't one of my better knife fights, but that may just be because I was taken off guard.

"Iella?" I hear my brother calling for me. "Iella, what's wrong?"

I pull Asha towards me and whisper in her ear. "Get him out of here," She nods, and turns towards Bryll. He can't see me like this. He already worries too much. "It's okay, Bry. Asha just—fell out of a tree. Let's go out and pick her up some bandages, hmm?" I don't believe for a second that Bryll buys it. I've fallen out of lots of trees in his lifetime with the scars to prove it, and he's getting a little old for that excuse. He's going on eight pretty soon, but all the girls still baby him. After all, he's not just_ my_ brother—he's _our_ brother.

Rose, who's putting pressure on my stomach, looks at me with exasperation. "Pretty rotten time to get sliced up, huh? Reaping day?" I roll my eyes, and then shrug. "Well—are you going?"

"To the reaping?" I ask in disbelief. "Are you kidding? Of course I'm going. The only way to get out of meeting at the square with the rest of the District is if you're—"

"Fatally wounded?" She interrupts with a smirk.

"This—" I say, gesturing to my injury, "Is not fatal. We can call Cara to give me a few stiches, wrap me up, and send me on my way. I'll be fine."

_**Knox Brigg-**_

I hear a knock at my workroom's door, and let my hammer drop to my table. "Come in!" I yell, a little bothered to be disturbed. The door creaks open to reveal my father in its frame.

"You should get ready pretty soon. You only have about a half hour before we leave for the Square." He says, striding on in and making himself comfortable in a chair.

"Yeah, I know," I reply, picking up my hammer again. "I'm almost done."

My father stands up and peers over my shoulder at my work. "Almost done?" He asks in doubt. "It looks like you've only just started. Now son, I know you're a fast wielder, but—"

I laugh, cutting him off. "Almost done _for the day_, I meant."

"Alright," He responds. "Ten minutes?"

"Five," I correct him, already pounding the sword with my hammer. He watches me a few moments longer, than exits without another word. My father has always been supportive of me embracing my more constructive nature. He always jokes that when I'm not destroying something, I'm creating something. And it's probably true.

My home has always been a happy one. I live with both of my parents, and am an only child. My mom and dad are better parents than I could ever ask for, and sometimes better than I give them _credit _for. They give me everything they can. We're not the richest of families, but we live a comfortable life. I don't even have to wish for siblings, because that's basically what Sinna and Rhodey are.

After a few more minutes in my shop, I go back to the house. My parents already have my clothes laid out for me, which is a little annoying. I sighed irritably before snatching up the clothes and heading towards my bedroom. I throw on some black jeans, and button up a red dress shirt over my white tank top. I go to the mirror and rough up my hair a little, but there's not much I can do with it, seeing as it's buzzed. I take my time tying my shoes, and end up putting on an assortment of metal rings and bracelets, just for something to do. I'm ready for the reaping with time to spare.

_**Iella Callister-**_

By the time I get to the square, it's packed. I misjudged how much my wound would hold me up. I impatiently careen through people, trying to get to my age group, Asha at my side. The reaping goes the way it always does. Long, tedious speeches… Inappropriate laughter and applause… It's a joke.

My ears perk up just in time for Luke Kelpanns, our District Three escort, to announce the female tribute. "And here we have—" He takes a pause. "Lilith Emmers!" I turn to Asha, and her face turns white.

Lilith Emmers is a young girl who lives with us in the warehouse. She's only twelve years old, and still recovering from years of mental and physical abuse. She can't hold on to a thought, let alone a weapon. She would be dead within the first five minutes of the Games. Suddenly, the words are out of my mouth before I can help it. "I volunteer!"

Luke Kelpanns searches the crowd, and I wave my hand at him. "That's the spirit! Alright, then. Please join us on the stage." I start to push my way through the crowd, being weary of my stitches, when Asha holds me back.

"No, take me! I volunteer!" She yells, not letting me go.

"I'm afraid it doesn't work like that, young lady. Miss—" He pauses, not knowing my name.

"Callister," I oblige.

"Ah, Miss Callister then, has already volunteered. She beat you to it, it seems. But don't worry, there's always next year!"

The look on Asha's face is murderous, and I realize she may never forgive me. But I know that eventually, once she was over the shock, she would have done the same thing for Lilith. She's only a helpless child, after all. I don't know how I would go on without Asha, but I also don't know how the gang would go on without her. If I die in the games, the girls lose a lieutenant. If Asha dies—they lose a leader. Their _true _leader. And, if I do end up winning, I would have more than enough money to give us all better lives.

So, yes, I volunteer for the 45th Hunger Games. And I have every intention of returning.

_**Knox Brigg-**_

The first girl tribute is picked—some girl named Lilith—but another girl volunteers in her place. Luke Kellpans introduces her as Iella Callister. I don't recognize the name, but when she goes up on the stage, she looks familiar. I'm still trying to place her when she takes a seat next to Georgio Hernadez, last year's victor. I don't have time to ponder it further though, because Luke Kellpans dunks his bright orange hand into the glass bowl filled with boys' names. He smiles brightly before announcing a name. _My_ name. _Knox Brigg._

_

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_

**And that concludes the reaping of District Three! Let me know how I'm doing here, and check back for a new chapter tomorrow.**


	8. The Reaping: District Four

**The Reaping:**

My sister told me I couldn't update daily. Well now I'm showing her! Seriously guys, I don't think you realize how proud I am of myself right now. I am so incredibly lazy, so this is an amazing achievement.

I'm so glad that a lot of you have been getting into your own characters and that you approve of them. I think that is the most worrisome part of writing these stories. I never know how you'll react to how I portray them, so I try my best to do a good job.

Thanks again for all the reviews!

* * *

District Four:

_**Belle Petals-**_

There isn't a lot of wooded area in District Four, but wherever it's hiding, I always find it. Most of the District is just shop, after shop, after shop. That's how most people here make their money, along with fishing, of course. If you're not a fisherman, you're a shop keeper. Since most people in District Four can afford it, the extravagant—some say _useless_—shops are endless: A wig store, a teddy bear store, a flower store… I could never imagine buying flowers at a flower shop. Why would you want to buy them when I can just hunt for the perfect bouquet out in the wild?

So, as I said before, forested areas are hard to come by, seeing as most of the land is bulldozed. I manage, however, to find a cluster of trees behind a shop that's sole purpose is to sell_ silverware. Exclusively silverware. _I giggle a little at the absurdity before drawing back the string of my bow, aiming at a narrow tree as my target.

"Bel-le-_uh_" My little brother whines my name, causing me to lose my focus and miss the tree. He sounds very exasperated for a seven year old.

"What is it, Danny?" I ask, keeping my voice friendly. I wouldn't have taken him if I had any other choice, seeing as practicing with my bow and arrow is more of a solitary exercise. I would have left Daniel at home, if I thought my dad would be there to take care of him. He's usually at work, and when he is home, he's drunk. Now I always take care of Daniel in his place. I actually pity my father. I know the only reason he drinks so much when he's at home is because the memories of my mother are too strong here. He hides in his fishing boat, completely miserable.

"When are we gonna' _leave?_" Daniel asks, becoming desperately bored. We've only been here for about ten minutes, but apparently that's long enough for him. I sigh before I start to pack up my things. He smiles victoriously and reaches for my hand. I accept it, and we go strolling through the streets of our town, joyously swinging our hands. Daniel decides that he's hungry, so we stop somewhere for an early lunch.

Once we're inside our favorite place, my over-excited little brother immediately runs over to Sally, the cook. I smile and follow in his footsteps, pulling Daniel into a big bear hug once I reach him. I tickle him and give him a quick peck on the cheek before I turn my attention to Sally. We both order some chicken noodle soup, which is mostly all broth, and take a seat. After Daniel has eaten, he tugs on my sleeve and points to something behind me.

I turn to see Ingrid Brink and her daughter Natalie. Daniel and Natalie play sometimes, and are pretty good friends. Once Ingrid spots us, she heads on over. "Well, hello Ms. Brink" I greet happily.

"Please, call me Ingrid," I nod, and she takes a seat next to me. She orders the soup of the day as well. "How are you?" She asks.

Before I can answer, Daniel is tugging on my sleeve again. "Belle? Can Natalie and me go play by the docks?" The docks are visible from the window, so I'm fine with it. I look to Ingrid, and she nods with approval.

"Sure, Bud," I say, and he immediately starts darting for the door. Natalie is two years younger, so she has some trouble keeping up. Before they run out of the shop, I yell after them, "Only the docks! Stay where I can see you!"

Ingrid and I share a laugh, and go back to sipping our soup. It's a long while before either of us speaks, but there's something I'm meaning to ask her. "Ingrid," I begin, finishing my bowl of soup. "During the reaping today—would you mind watching Daniel? My father isn't home yet, and I can't leave him alone."

She gives me a sympathetic look, knowing all too well of my situation. Ingrid's husband ran out on her, and her children. Apparently having a reliable father is hard to come by these days. But at least her two children, Natalie and Bright, have Ingrid. My mother died four years ago. Daniel was only three, so most of his memories of her have faded. I'm the only mother he knows—the only one who's taken care of him nearly all his life.

"Of course I'll watch Daniel," Ingrid says generously. "Just make sure you come back for him," She gives me a wink. I read more into what she says than she probably intended.

_**Brighton Brink-**_

After getting off my boat, I tie it up to a few posts on the dock. I inherited this boat from my father, back when it was still called _Seascape. _He used to take me on shorter fishing trips, teaching me everything he knew. He was a strict, temperamental man, but once I started understanding what he was teaching me, he loosened up. He would take pride in me if he knew that I was a fisherman now, and have been for two years. Back when he was still around, he and my mother fought constantly. It seemed like he was only ever happy when he was on _Seascape_. And maybe he was—I guess the family life just wasn't for him.

As soon as he left us, I asked my girlfriend Mel to come with me down by the docks. Somehow I knew _Seascape_ would be sitting there in the water, and that he would leave her to me. I still have no idea where my father went, or how he got there. All I know was that I didn't need the reminder of his absence, so I took some white paint and covered _Seascape_'s name. I was going to leave it at that when Mel informed me that it's bad luck to have a ship without a name. Not knowing how much more bad luck I could take, I decided to give my father's fishing boat a new name. A name that would make it truly mine.

Mel and I brainstormed for a good half hour, throwing out names like _Cod Squad_ and _Fishin' Magician, _when I finally came to a decision. I grabbed some black paint and wrote the words _Fishful Thinking._ Mel burst out laughing, saying it was typical of me. We laughed a while longer, and then she dug something out of her pocket. She handed me a beaded keychain that had a silly looking swordfish at the end of it. "I just made it this afternoon," She informed me. "It kind of resembles you, don'tcha think?" In response, I gave her my biggest, goofiest looking smile I could muster. She laughed some more, and kissed me softly. Mel and I didn't last long after that, breaking up only a couple weeks later. It wasn't sad though, because we both knew it was for the best. Both of us could only ever see each other as great friends.

After I finish tying up _Fishful Thinking, _I head down the dock towards a desk where Old Man Seamore sits. No, his last name isn't actually Seamore, but that's just what he tells everyone. Once I reach him, I pull out a few coins, to which he quickly says. "Save your money, Sunshine. You're free to use this dock any time." I smile and nod, but discreetly place the money on his desk as I pass him. I know he can't always afford refusing payment from me.

Old Man Seamore isn't the only one who calls me Sunshine. My mother started the nickname, and pretty soon she had the whole town doing it. It never really bothered me. In fact, I find it kind of amusing.

Once I get to the end of the dock, I spot my little sister Natalie standing against a post with her hands over her eyes. Once I get closer, I realize she's counting. "Eight, Nine, Ten!" She calls. "Ready or not, here I come!"

She opens her eyes just in time to see me snatch her up in my arms, holding her over my head. She laughs and laughs, loving it when I let her sit on my shoulders. "What are _you_ doing out here all by yourself, little _Nat?_" I ask.

"_Play_in'" She responds simply, roughing up my blonde hair that's already messy as it is. I tickle her until she stops, then haul her over my shoulder, spinning her around once more before setting her down on the ground. "Where's mom?"

"Shopping," She replies. Natalie has a bit of a lisp, so when she says_ shopping_, it sound a lot more like _thopping_. "She's with Belle Petals. Daniel and me are playing hide-and-go-seek, so I gotta' go find him," She says seriously.

"Well, in that case, I won't keep you from your mission a moment longer." I say with a smile. "Tell mom when you see her that I went to find Cam, alright?" Natalie nods in agreement, and I start heading back to the house.

_**Belle Petals-**_

After deciding to leave Daniel with Ingrid, I start making my way home, knowing I have to prepare for the reaping. On the way, I spot my best friend Jasmine outside her house. Jasmine has her hair pulled back in a ribbon, and wears a pretty, green, velvet dress. Apparently she's already prepared for the reaping. She catches my eye, and I smile back at her automatically. "Hey, what are you doing right now?" I ask, giving her a quick hug in greeting.

"Nothing," She replies. "Waiting for my parents, I guess."

"Do you feel like coming back to my house? I still need to get dressed." She shrugs and nods, following me to my house. We chat aimlessly—just trying to stay distracted, I suppose. It's true that the Games are viewed to be more honorable in District Four than a lot of other Districts, and that anyone picked should be proud, but it all just seems so ludicrous to me. I'm fairly well prepared, but that can't keep me from praying I won't be chosen. Anyone who says they aren't afraid of the Games is a liar. Either that, or they have a death wish. Bravery has nothing to do with it.

As we near my house, Jasmine and I spot my neighbor, Mrs. Henderson. She's tending to her lawn, as always. Mrs. Henderson is a very odd woman. She's a widow who spends most of her time picking up countless knickknacks and whatnots from the meaningless _themed shops_ I can't stand. In other words, she's the type of woman who would find a _teddy bear_ store useful. If she only bought weird things for her own personal enjoyment, that would be her prerogative. Only, she doesn't. She kindly displays her oddments all around her yard. Usually, she themes her lawn depending on the season. For instance, during the spring, she litters her yard in fake flowers, bumble bees, birds, frogs, life-size deer, and so on. Now, if Mrs. Henderson was completely sane, she would not decorate her lawn for Reaping Day—but she has.

Mrs. Henderson is just returning to her house when Jasmine turns to me and gives me a look of disgust. All around her yard are dolls that are all bloodied up with red paint and missing various body parts. I cover my mouth in disbelief, but then Jasmine notices something. "She—left the deer out," She said, pointing. I follow her finger, and sure enough, the deer statues are still prancing happily through the scene. All of a sudden, we both burst out laughing.

"Awfully eclectic, huh?" I ask, trying to suppress my giggles with little success. The whole thing is just so ridiculous. I feel bad for Mrs. Henderson. She doesn't really know what she's doing anymore, and someone will surely ask her to clear her lawn. Jasmine and I continue to laugh even as we enter my house. Once we're inside, I turn to her and ask, "Race you up the stairs?"

She nods, and then counts. "One—Two—" I start running before she says three, getting a head start. She hollers in annoyance before catching up to me. I make my way up the stairs, hopping left and right so she can't grab the back of my shirt. I stumble into my room, and go crashing to the floor. I quickly do a somersault so the plummet looked intentional. "Ha! I win," I announce smugly.

It's comforting to know that I have a friend like Jasmine, who I can have fun with, and who can get my mind off of more unpleasant things—like the reaping. Instead of talking out our feelings, we spend the day laughing and chitchatting happily. After realizing that we have a few minutes before I have to get ready, I jokingly go rummaging through my old costume chest. I pull out an old fisherman's outfit that belonged to my father, and hold it up to myself. "Aha! I think I've found just the thing. Isn't this stunning?"

Jasmine chuckles lightly before returning the clothes to the chest. "You're flame sure does burn bright, Belle Petals"

_**Brighton Brink-**_

I'm just pulling a white dress shirt over my blue T-shirt when my best friend Cam comes bursting in my room. "Are you almost ready, or what?" He asks, taking a seat at my desk. I roll my eyes and start to button up my shirt with a smirk. Once I start buttoning, it becomes very apparent that the shirt has become too small on me since last year. "Hmm—I think that's a bit snug," Cam informs me, always one to point out the obvious.

I inhale dramatically, unbuttoning it. It looks fine if I leave it open. I turn to exit my room when Cam asks, "You're really going to wear those pants?"

My head shoots downward as I examine my jeans. "Yeah, what's wrong with them? They're my nicest pair,"

"Well, you're nicest pair have a good-sized hole in the pocket." He responds, matter-of-factly. I pull down my T-shirt, trying to cover it up.

Cam can be a total pain sometimes, but he's been my best friend since I can remember. Some of the kids give him a hard time at school, but he's really a good guy. He's my neighbor, and I think of him more as a brother than as a friend, which is why he's _allowed_ to drive me nuts. I remember when I first found out about his home life. Once Cam and I started hanging out, he got really clingy, always wanting to come over. Of course, I let him stay whenever he wanted, but it wasn't until later that I found out about his abusive father. Cam's dad has an explosive temper, and takes it out on his own son. I never had the perfect relationship with my father, but after learning about Cam—it made me appreciate my own dad a lot more. My mother is sickened by Cam's father, but she chooses not to rock the boat. Instead, we basically adopted him.

"So, where's our little sister?" He asks. He adores Natalie almost as much as I do, and between the two of us, she's always safe—if not a little smothered.

"Mom's watching her. Last I saw, she was playing hide-and-go-seek with Daniel Petals." I respond, leading us down the hall.

"Spending time with older guys, hmm?" Cam jokes. "Well that's not a good sign."

I laugh, making my way towards the front door. "Yeah, that little Danny—such a bad influence. Pretty soon he'll have her sneaking out of the house to meet up with other sugared-up seven year-olds."

"Hey," Cam warns, mock-serious. "It could happen."

_**Belle Petals-**_

I go to the Square with Jasmine and her family, since my father is nowhere to be found. It's harder for him to see me on reaping day, dressed in my mother's old clothes, looking more and more like her every year. My blonde curls, my large, emerald eyes—it's all her. Sometimes I think about chopping all my hair off, just too see if then he'll be able to stand being in the same room with me. No, it would be a waste. I still look exactly like her in every other aspect of my appearance.

We get to the Square a little early, so we join our age group of girls before the crowd gets in. About twenty minutes later, our mayor goes to the podium and teaches us about the shaping of Panem. And then he speaks of the Dark Days—the uprising of the Districts against the Capitol—which eventually lead to the destruction of District Thirteen. As punishment, and to ensure no uprisings ever happen again, the Hunger Games were created. The mayor gives this speech ever year, not that it matters. We all learn about it in school, anyway.

I take notice of the District Four escort as she makes her way to the stage. Bathilda Hill is now officially the oldest escort involved in the Games. She's only in her forties, but that's ancient for the Capitol unless you've received alterations. Her dark hair is pulled into a tight bun, showing off her lovely shoulders, cheekbones, and jaw. She's very—_traditional_ looking. Especially for someone from the Capitol, where the latest fads include purple skin, snake eyes, and cat whiskers. This woman actually looks fairly _normal._ She's obviously had some work done though, seeing as she doesn't look a day over 30, and her olive skin is completely flawless.

"Happy Hunger Games, District Four!" Bathilda welcomes, her voice both soft and exquisite. I take in a deep breath, and reach for Jasmine's hand. She takes it and squeezes it so hard I'm afraid I might lose circulation. I turn and look through the crowd, spotting Ingrid holding my little brother, who looks all puffy-eyed. I catch her eye, and she gives me a little wave. "Ladies first!"

My attention immediately refocuses to Bathilda. My heart threatens to beat right out of my chest in dread. Finally, she pulls out a slip from the giant glass ball filled with the names of all the girls in the Square. "Miss—Belle Petals!"

My feet are cemented to the floor, and all I can think is_ 'did I hear her right?' _I know that I did when people start to gently push me towards the stage. I snap out of my trance, and start rushing towards Bathilda Hill. I try to keep the tears from running down my cheeks, but I can't help it. I silently accept my place next to my new mentor, Gregor Greenwich. Bathilda asks for any volunteers, and the crowd shifts uncomfortably, but nobody takes my place.

_**Brighton Brink-**_

I curse under my breath as I see Belle join Bathilda on the stage. She's the only caretaker of her little brother Daniel, Natalie's best friend. She takes a seat next to Gregor, the District Four mentor. Gregor is tall man who used to be very strong in his youth. Now that he's in his late thirties, he really let himself go since he was in the Games. His blonde hair is just starting to get thin at the back of his head, and wrinkles are appearing around his baggy, sullen eyes. His most distinct feature is his ears, which are a bit abnormally large.

Bathilda asks for applause, and the crowd uncomfortably obliges. I don't clap. In fact, if I could take Belle's place, I would. I don't know her all that well, but one look at her brother Daniel decides it. He looks miserable in my mother's arms. "Now for the gentlemen!" Says Bathilda. She takes a slip from the big, glass ball. "Brighton Brink!"

My eyes widen in horror, and I take a minute to let it sink in. I then turn to Cam. "Take care of them—Mom and Natalie. And Daniel—Tell mom—" I have to take deep breaths, making breaks in my speech, but Cam understands, and shushes me. I give him one final smile, fake as it may be, before I turn to take my place on the stage.

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**Technically, since it's passed midnight, I didn't meet my update deadline. I'm sorry; I caught up—**_**in the Emmys**_**. Don't judge me!**

**Let me know how you liked Chapter Four, and check back for District Five!**


	9. The Reaping: District Five

**The Reaping:**

Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! And a special thanks goes out to the love of my life Sarah, for being my editor. I never would have seen those typos at 1 AM, so thanks for pointing them out so I could fix them. Hannah would be _so proud!_

And, as Sarah also pointed out, the character Mrs. Henderson from District Four was based on someone… My neighbor. Yes, I actually have a neighbor that does those exact things. Only her main attraction is around Halloween, when she displays dolls' heads on sticks. I'm not even kidding. I would take a picture, and somehow post the link on this story, but I think that might be too mean. She's actually a sweet lady. Just kind of… peculiar.

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District Five:

_**Lissa Hendricks-**_

I'm pulled out of my slumber late today, still exhausted from the night before. I practically roll out of bed, and go to my window. Judging by the position of the sun in the sky, I assume it's somewhere around eleven O'clock. I strip off my muddy clothes I arrived in last night, wrap myself in a towel, and head for the bathroom. I bathe in cold water, trying to clean all of the dirt and grime from my body. It's a relatively quick washing, seeing as I detest the freezing water. Once I return to my room, all shiny and new, I pull out a simple, cotton dress. It's light green, with emerald embellishments. I'm usually not one to wear dresses unless I'm doing one of my cons, but today is special. Today is Reaping day.

Once cleaned, groomed, and ready to go, I head out of my bedroom, and towards the front door. Frax, my mutt, follows in my wake. Padraig immediately stops me before I get a foot outside. "Well, good morning. Care to tell me where you were last night?" My brother interrogates. I give him a look of pure innocence, and he just laughs at me. "You can't pull that on me, Lissa. I know you. And I know you were out last night."

I groan disappointedly, and then immediately drop the act. "How?"

"The muddy footprints in the living room were a big clue." Padraig replied, raising an eyebrow. I drop to the couch, and my dog immediately hops up to join me. I pat his head absentmindedly. "That—and I checked you're room at midnight. So, who will I be expecting a visit from now?"

"I'll let you know," I say, rising to my feet. "If I get caught, that is," I wink, heading towards the open front door. "See you at the square!" I hear him sigh impatiently before I close the door behind me. Frax scratches on the door and whines, but I know that it will be too difficult to take him to the Square.

I like to give him hell sometimes, but Padraig is a great brother. He's the only person I know who can put up with me. He doesn't judge. He's been taking care of me ever since our parents became incapable... assuming that I need taking care of, which I don't really. But still—it's just nice to have Padraig around, seeing as my parents never are. They both suffered from physical handicaps, and are unable to work. We've jumped around, never really having a place we could call home. My mother became a morphling because she couldn't deal with the pain of her injuries. My father turned to drinking, still working on his own. Padraig then decided to go out and got a job, becoming the main supporter of our family. Meanwhile, I found more _fraudulent_ ways to make money.

I started pickpocketing at a young age—nothing major. Eventually my devious nature got the better of me, and I was planning long, complicated cons. I realized how fun it could be, and that I'm really good at it. Everything in my life became a show, and I was the ultimate grifter. I can portray a wide variety of characters; whatever is essential to get what I want. We made enough money to get a small house, but I still wouldn't give up my scams. They're not just for money anymore. I use them for my own personal enjoyment. I spend my afternoons pranking innocent strangers. Like, just last night, I snuck out to mess with a girl name Cassidy Carleton. She snitched on me when I was copying her answers on a test in school, so therefore, she had to pay. I went to her house in the middle of the night, and dug for over an hour in front of her front door. Once there was a decent-sized hole, I covered the top of it with a square of plastic sheeting. I then proceeded to sprinkle dirt over the tarp until it was completely hidden, in hopes that she would come out of her house and fall through. Her reaping dress will be a complete mess, which is probably the most tragic thing that snob will _ever_ have to endure. Some would say this was a risky idea in case her parents came out instead, but I studied Cassidy's schedule well. I know that she will be the first of her family to leave the house today, because she always leaves early on Sunday mornings to visit her sickly aunt. My investigatory skills are astounding, even to me. I do some very impressive recon.

Shockingly enough, I don't have very many _real _friends. There are not a lot of people who can take all the deceit—but it's just in my nature. Sometimes I play so many roles that I lose myself along the way. If you think you know me, there's a pretty good chance that you only know who I'm portraying at the moment. _I_ don't even know who I am anymore… But my brother Padraig somehow seems to. He's the one person I can count on.

_**Tristan Black-**_

"I should probably go—before I get you into trouble," Rose says, leaning in to kiss me. Her lips are warm and soft, and I can feel her smile. After pulling away, she makes no movement towards the door. We've gone through this routine many times. She says she has to go, we kiss, and then she decides to _'stick around for a few more minutes'. _Only it usually ends up being hours before she actually leaves—not that I'm complaining.

Rose and I have been together for a few months now, and she's the first girl I've ever fallen in love with. She's adventurous, impulsive, and even a little eccentric, but I love it all. As a plus, she's absolutely gorgeous. She has short hair the color of dark chocolate, and impeccable porcelain skin. Her facial features are all soft, and she has full, pink lips. The thing I love most about her is her aqua colored eyes, which shine like zircon gems.

"You don't have to worry about me getting into trouble anyway," I tell her. "My parents adore you. Especially my mom. I swear—she's getting ready to arrange an exchange with your parents."

Rose laughs, leaning back against my chest where we sit. "Don't be silly. You know my parents would never take you," She teases. I make a very unenthusiastic mock-laugh before she adds, "Besides—it wouldn't be your _mother_ I'd be afraid of,"

"You mean dear old _dad_?" I ask, playing with the hair behind her ear. She giggles as my hand brushes passed her neck, tickling her.

"Umm, _yes._ Mr. _Big-Time-Hunger-Games-Champion_?"

I shake my head, chuckling slightly. "He really just goes by Spartacus now," She pokes me in the ribs and I just laugh more. "He's really not a scary guy, that's all. He's sure as hell not going to come running up here to chase you out of my room. He's the one who came up with the _'door open 12 inches'_ rule. As long as we follow it, he's got nothing to complain about."

"You've got to admit, he's pretty intimidating looking…" Rose says meekly. Of course, she's right. My father is 6'7", and in stature—resembles a grizzly bear. He's very muscular, and I have no doubt that he could murder someone using nothing but his big toe. I don't know how that's possible, but if anyone could find a way, I'd be Spartacus, the 20th Champion of the Hunger Games. Yep—that's my Daddy.

My father went down as the _Ruthless Destroyer_ in the Games, but in a kill-or-be-killed situation, you never know how you're going to respond. I, for instance, can't imagine what it'd be like to take a human life. That's not to say I won't if I get thrown into the Games. I'd be slaughtering with the best of them for survival, because it's innate. I'm not about to claim to be a martyr—you can't always control the instinct taking over.

It's fairly likely that I'll be chosen for the Hunger Games someday. The children of previous victors being chosen isn't the silly coincidence the Capitol tries to get us to believe. My father went down in history, so you can bet that the Capitol will be wondering if I will, too. That's why my father has been training me. I know that it's technically illegal, but if the careers can do it, why not me? Usually kids from the higher, poorer Districts can't train because they have to spend their free time working. I've lived a privileged life here in the Victor's Village , and I've never had to work a day in my life.

I'm well-built to a certain extent, but it becomes apparent very quickly that I do not have my father's talent for demolition. At first, I was too intimidated to learn hand-to-hand combat from my father. It wasn't that I thought he'd actually injure me, which I'm sure he could do without even trying, but I just didn't want him to think I was pathetic. But, after Roger Homes kicked my ass at age twelve, drastic times called for drastic measures. My dad taught me all he knew, and I actually started to bulk up. Confident as I may now be with unarmed fighting, swordplay is my forte. If I could get my hands on a sword, I'd have more than a decent chance.

Every Reaping Day, I try to plan out how I will react if I'm selected. I don't think I'd be able to start crying and pull the whole, _'I'm so fragile, I'm no threat!'_ thing. Strategic as it may be, I just wouldn't be able to stomach looking like such a wuss. I'd go for the _strong and silent_ type, but it's been way over-done. So, if I'm picked, I plan on going up to the stage with a big smile on my face. People will either think that I'm bat-shit crazy, or that I have some fanciful skill they don't know about it. _'That boy has a trick up his sleeve!'_ is the kind of response I want.

I probably give an unhealthy amount of thought into the Games, but it's always best to be prepared.

_**Lissa Hendricks-**_

On my way through town, I spot two men sitting on a bench. Curiosity takes over me, as it often does, so I walk behind them. The two men are not talking to each other, so I can only assume that they're strangers. I notice that the taller and gawkier of the two has some money sticking out of his pocket. Very careless indeed. I decide to teach the man a lesson, and have a little bit of fun.

Being skilled in the art of thievery, I easily pull the money out of the man's pocket without detection and continue walking, so as to avoid crowding behind them. The next part of my plan is tricky. It's nearly impossible to stuff currency into someone's back pocket without it turning into an extremely awkward situation. That's when I notice that the pudgier man has a fairly attainable coat pocket. I walk back the other way, and slip Gawky-Man's money into Pudgy-Man's jacket. Then, after returning to an appropriate position, I make some noise.

"Oh, my! Stop right there!" Both heads snap up at me, alarmed. I turn to Gawky-Man. "He just stole your money!"

Pudgy-Man starts spluttering and getting red in the face. "I did _not!_" Just then, Gawky-man's hand went flying to his back pocket.

"Awfully suspicious that my money seems to have vanished then, isn't it?" Gawky-Man yells. He's a lot feistier than I would have pegged him for.

"This is ridiculous," Pudgy man says, turning out his pockets. "I don't even have any money on—" He cuts off, pulling the bills from his jacket pocket. Gawky-Man raises his eyebrows and stares at him in a very _Aha!-_like manner. "This—is some kind of mistake." Pudgy-Man hands the money over, and gets up to leave.

Gawky-Man glares furiously as Pudgy-Man mumbles something along the lines of, "Really, I'm no thief. I'm an honest man." Once he's gone, Gawky-Man looks to me. It's all just too easy.

"Thank you so much, young lady." He offers his hand, and I take it, hesitantly. He shakes it so enthusiastically that I feel like my arm is about to fall off.

"Really, it's okay," I reply, retracting my hand. I immediately fall into my usual character. "It's just—I don't know how anyone could do something like that! I mean, the thought of stealing what isn't rightfully yours in just despicable! Someone pickpocketed my father once, and we are already such a poor family—I just remember not having _dinner _that night. Actually—we didn't have dinner a _few_ nights after that," I suddenly burst into tears, alarming Gawky-Man, but gaining his sympathy.

"Oh, you poor dear," He clucks his tongue, patting my back consolingly. "Why don't you take this?" He says, offering me a few bills. "As a reward for catching that thief."

I hesitate bashfully, but eventually take the reward. "Thank you sir! I won't forget this!" He tips his hat to me, and I skip off merrily with his money. I believe that this is the type of situation where I get to have my cake, and eat it too. I very rarely keep cake that I have no intention of eating, but that's just me.

When I get there to the Square, I immediately join the group of other thirteen year old girls. Most of them are giving me dirty looks. It isn't until then that I notice Cassidy Carlton. She has a wrapped up leg, and all her weight is on a large branch, which I assume is being used as a crutch. It seems that I have done more damage than I originally intended. Oh well—No regrets, no apologies. All the girls know it was me though, thanks to my lovely reputation.

Cassidy, along with her gaggle of friends, snub me as the reaping begins. It doesn't bother me much.

I lose focus, and only gain it back when Ray Terrell goes to the podium. He's a very short man, but wears platform shoes, doing little to boost his _image_. I wonder why he didn't just receive height alterations if he's so insecure about it, seeing as he's received alterations for pretty much everything else. He's bald, but instead of wear a wig, he has his head tattooed with yellow and gold Indian patterns. His eyes are brown, and his eyebrows and eyelashes are dyed in a disgusting shade orange. "Welcome to the 45th annual Hunger Games! Let's select our first lady tribute!"

He rummages through the glass bowl a bit to create a bit of drama, I suppose. He pulls out the piece of paper, and hesitates still. I get the strong urge to punch Ray Terrell in the face. "Lissa Hendricks!" I feel a pang of dread in my chest, but quickly push it away, thinking of my options. Everyone is staring at me, waiting. Shock poisons my mind, and I try desperately to let it go.

I then decide. The 45th Hunger Games will have to be my most brilliant con yet—because this is the one that can truly determine my life or death.

_**Tristan Black-**_

After Lissa Hendricks takes the stage, sobbing uncontrollably, the crowd goes silent. Nobody takes Lissa's place, but everybody hates when someone so young is chosen. It's hard to know that there's a family here in District Five that has to watch their baby girl be massacred on live television. Some game.

Once Lissa takes her seat, still crying, Patrick Kinnely scoots away as if he's frightened of her. Patrick is our district's scraggly looking mentor. He always seems to be high on something, like now for example. He stares and points up at the sky, and draws little shapes with his fingers, as if he's searching for constellations—day time be damned.

"Time for the gentlemen!" Bellows Ray. He digs around in that big glass sphere that resembles an aquarium until he has a handle on one of the slips. He smiles at the audience, and delays reading the piece of paper. I get the strong urge to punch Ray Terrell in the face, and I assume that's a frequent reaction amongst the crowd. "Mr. Tristan Black!"

I nod, and start heading towards the stage, completely prepared. I can hear someone cry behind me, and I assume it's Rose, but I block it out. Once I reach the podium, I shake hands eagerly with our escort, and then turn to the camera. I imagine the Capitol, giving it my brightest, deadliest smile.

'_That boy has a trick up his sleeve!'_

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